P3P Where No Persona Has Gone Before
by seiryux
Summary: Centuries after the events of P4, Hamuko Arisato has finally been released from the Great Seal. Will she be able to live a normal life or will she have new challenges awaiting her? NOT a true Persona/Star Trek crossover. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1: Visions

_Disclaimer: Persona 3 Portable and its characters are the property of Altus. Star Trek and any of its characters are the property of Paramount Pictures. Any original characters that show are mine however._

_For Persona related info: **megamitensei [dot] wikia [dot] com/wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: **memory-alpha [dot] org/wiki/Portal:Main**_

_This fic came about when I thought about all the P3 "Arisato Revival" stories as I call them. Pretty much all of them have Minato and/or Minako/Hamuko being released from the Great Seal a few years after P4. Instead of a few years, what if it was a few centuries? How would the Arisatos feel about living farther in the future when their friends and family have all passed on? Would they also have to use their Personae again? These questions I hope to answer in this fic. Mind you, I'm only using Minako/Hamuko as the Great Seal, but her brother may have descendants whom may show up (still working on a full outline of the story as I write this chapter)._

_As for the Star Trek connection, I'm actually not completely sure if I'm going to go into space or include any Star Trek characters in the story. I may have their aliens show up but maybe not the main characters. If they do show up, it may just be a cameo or two. I'm really just using the Star Trek timeline as a basis for this story's timeline. That is why I haven't labeled this fic as a Persona/Star Trek crossover just yet. Although I have to admit, searching up Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki, for a Vulcan, Romulan or Klingon god to turn into a Persona sounds intriguing._

_Now without further ado, P3P: Where No Persona Has Gone Before._

* * *

How long has it been since she became the Great Seal? She couldn't really tell anymore. Not that the eternally cheerful girl known as Hamuko Arisato would ever complain. She made the choice to protect her friends and all of humanity from their death wish in the form of Erebus from reaching Nyx, the harbinger of Death, at the cost of her own life after all. She had a few chances to relinquish the job too.

A few years after preventing the Fall, Hamuko witnessed another miracle similar to the one she made: another group of Persona users solved a murder case and defeated Izanami, the Japanese goddess of the underworld, and stopped the fog of blissful ignorance and her plan to turn everyone into shadows. They also eliminated the wishes for death and ignorance from everyone's heart, thus eliminating the need for the Seal. In fact, once Izanami was defeated, Erebus had shrunk to near non-existence.

That group stirred up an old memory of one of its members, Yukiko Amagi. Hamuko remembered her from the Gekkoukan tennis team's trip to Inaba and subsequent stay at the Amagi Inn. She always had fond memories of the trip and the girl, who had left an impression on her. Finding out that she is the girlfriend to the current Wild Card was a very nice surprise. Hamuko wanted to thank them once released from the Seal.

If she actually was released from it, that is.

In learning of the developments in Inaba, her old teammates and friends from SEES planned to "extract her from the Seal" (Hamuko cringed when Mitsuru, in her usual down-to-business voice, used the word "extract"). She was very eager for those plans to succeed until she started to have very brief but very frightening visions of terrible pain, death and despair. Those visions told her that she still needed to maintain the Great Seal.

She needed to stop whatever SEES was planning but did not know how. Luckily, for her, two of non-corporeal friends were able to intervene. One of them was Theodore, a resident of the Velvet Room. Truth be told, Theo would rather see Hamuko be free but would follow her orders otherwise. Theo tried to enter the dreams of Aigis, who formerly was a Wild Card user and a guest of the Velvet Room. She did not quite understand why he would try to prevent such a thing from happening and thus ignored his vision.

The other was the human form of the persona Thanatos known as Ryoji Mochizuki. He loved Hamuko for the short time they were together and wanted to see her happy, but he knew what was at stake and agreed to her plans. When Theo failed, Ryoji surprised SEES in person on the eve of the extraction. Unfortunately, they also could not believe what he was saying and were about to fight him, thinking that Nyx had taken over him again. After a few minutes of dodging attacks, broken laboratory instruments and, to Hamuko's mind, several comedic attempts to choke him with his scarf, he was able to convince SEES to meet him at midnight on the rooftop of Gekkoukan High, the last place she was seen alive.

"Oh sure, laugh at me almost getting choked out with my scarf," an annoyed Ryoji said.

"Although I don't understand human sense of humour much of the time, I must admit that it was funny sight," opined Theo. Ryoji just snorted while Hamuko just giggled at both of them.

"Seriously though," she added, "thanks for helping for me both of you. I know that you would rather have me live out my life but I can't just let humanity fall for my whims."

"It is our pleasure, my lady," Theo said, earning a snort from her and a laugh from Ryoji.

"Yeesh, I thought I told you to stop with the formalities," fumed Hamuko. Before Theo could reply, Ryoji cleared his throat.

"I believe your audience is here, Hamuko," he said. She looked in the direction of Gekkoukan and saw what he saw.

"Well, let's go meet them," she said sadly.

* * *

_Well, that's the first chapter of my first fanfic. Please excuse the excessive exposition. I'm just setting up the story right now. Any comments, constructive feedback and ideas are welcome. See you next chapter._


	2. Chapter 2: Reunion, Rebuff, Reseal

_For Persona related info: **megamitensei**_**_ [dot] wikia [dot] com/wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki_**

_For Star Trek related info: **memory-alpha [dot] org/wiki/Portal:Main**_

_This chapter took WAY longer than expected. Aside from my usual bouts of ADD (namely P3P and Dissidia 012), I had a really hard time with writer's block as I knew what I wanted to say in the chapter but I had issues with how to say it properly, as well as dealing with excessive though necessary exposition._

_I outlined some of the things to come, including a few Star Trek related things. I might change the classification to a Persona/Star Trek crossover around chapter 4 or 5 but I haven't decided yet._

_I still don't know about the Arcana just yet, though I kind of wonder how that an overly arrogant and brash Klingon, and an overly logical adolescent Vulcan would work out. Any ideas are welcome._

_As for pairings, you will find out this chapter._

_RE: Theo and Ryoji; I intend for both of them to stay close friends with the FeMC after the time skip with similar roles as in the game. I haven't thought beyond that just yet though._

_Anyway, on to chapter 2._

* * *

"Very funny, guys. You just had to bring out the proverbial red carpet," Hamuko said. Her two companions just grinned.

She was referring to a lighted, rainbow coloured staircase that descended from the moon and the Great Seal toward the Gekkoukan High rooftop. She had to admit that it was pretty and dazzling, and made for quite a scene for her awaiting friends.

With Theo and Ryoji leading the way, Hamuko descended the staircase towards her friends. As they got closer, she started to recognize and reminisce about each of them.

The overly precocious junior high school student Ken Amada, whom she helped to accept his child side and not try to grow up too fast. He was like a little brother to her.

The humanoid robot and anti-Shadow weapon Aigis whom she and her brother helped understand what it means to be human.

The tech savvy Fuuka Yamagishi who used her and her brother as cooking crash test dummies. They had made her realize that she needed to be true to herself and not to someone else's perception of who to be.

Strong and loyal shiba inu Koromaru, who fought to avenge his master's death at the hands of the Shadows.

Fun loving immature but dear friend Junpei Iori, who had been heartbroken because of the death of his girlfriend, Chidori Yoshino. Hamuko consoled the baseball cap wearer after that painful event. After Chidori's revival, he re-energized.

Boxing champion and overeager challenge seeker Akihiko Sanada, whom Hamuko reminded him of his late sister, Miki. She helped him cope with his loss and to slow down instead of rushing into things guns blazing.

Ice queen and business heiress Mitsuru Kirijo who needed to escape sheltered life and open up to the world, thanks to her and Minato`s intervention.

Temperamental but caring Yukari Takeba, whom the twins helped resolved her issues with her mother and her issues with getting into relationships. Hamuko was very happy when her brother and Yukari hooked up.

Her quiet twin brother Minato with whom Hamuko loved dearly and shared the Wild Card ability. Truthfully, he could have become the Great Seal instead of her. They both knew what was at stake, that one of them had to sacrifice his or her life and that the other wanted to do it to spare the other from the pain. So just before Nyx`s coming when they got transported to the Velvet Room, the twins had a duel for that right. As they eyed each other, they remembered that duel very clearly.

* * *

"_Are you two sure about this?" a couple of voices said in unison. The twins nodded._

"_Are you completely sure about this?" other echoic voices chimed in. The twins again nodded._

"_Very well. Proceed," an older voice commanded._

_Minato and Hamuko stood in front of each other while the Velvet Room residents Igor, Elizabeth and Theodore, and their respective Personae Orpheus and Eurydice watched. The twins agreed to have a no Persona, one-handed sword vs. naginata duel that took place in a red coliseum. How Igor fit that into that into the Velvet Room, they did not know but that was inconsequential._

_Readying themselves, they ran at each other to start the duel. Minato started with a downward slash with his Lucifer Blade. Hamuko parried that slash with the middle of her Vel Vel Muruga naginata's shaft and followed with a backhand spin slash; her brother rolled forward to dodge. Setting their weapons forward, they traded stab attempts and deflections until she tried for a one-two combo, starting with a jab with the butt of the naginata followed by a horizontal slash with the blade part. He blocked the jab with a forward block then switch to a backhand block for the slash. He then used the hilt of his sword to force the naginata blade from her right side to her left, making her bend over and be prone to the subsequent left cross he threw. As she was falling, she countered by using the butt of her weapon to trip up her brother. Both had to reverse somersault back into a ready stance after falling._

_They each tried crazier tactics and attacks as the duel went on. Hamuko attempted a few techniques used in Hong Kong actions movies, such as twirling her naginata around her neck followed by a jump and downward slash. It left her open for a backhand spin slash attempt which she dodged by rolling forward. On the other hand, Minato tried the jumping sword stab he had seen in a few Greek mythology action movies. All he got was the blade of the naginata parrying his sword while the butt punched his face. _

_It was a good thing that time did not pass in the Velvet Room as the duel went on for several minutes, which in real time would have meant Nyx completing the Fall. As it was, the duel was at a standstill. Although Hamuko's naginata gave her a reach advantage, Minato's one-handed sword allowed quick stabs to keep her at bay. However, Minato was having trouble with her two sided attacks and had to block painful blows from the butt of the spear with his forearms or shins._

_Finally, in the midst of a blade lock, Hamuko unleashed her secret weapon. What her brother did not know was that she had been modifying the Vel Vel Muruga to have a hidden quick release mechanism near the middle of the shaft so she could split it in two, the butt end in her left hand and the blade end in her right. The tactic utterly startled Minato, which left him open for the butt end smacking his right knee, the blade end cutting his forehead and a roundhouse left kick nearly breaking his jaw._

_Continuing the assault, Hamuko reconnected her naginata, lashed out with a downward slash that disarmed Minato of the Lucifer Blade, added a backhand uppercut slash that tore his shirt, and finished with a jump spinning downward slash that knocked him hard on to the ground. Before he could recover, she already had the blade end over his prone neck. Woozy as he woke up, Minato's eyes widened at his sister standing over him; he then nodded to signal his defeat._

_Theo, Elizabeth, Orpheus and Eurydice sighed in relief; they did not want to see either of their masters to hurt each other. The latter two return to their masters' psyches while the former two summoned healing Personae to tend to any wounds._

_Hamuko held out her hand towards her twin. "How are you feeling, oni-chan?"_

_Minato took her hand and picked himself up, saying, "My ego's bruised but otherwise I'm okay. You certainly surprised me by splitting your naginata. Great job, sis."_

_Her sister blushed, "It was nothing. Just something I thought up that took a while to implement." Her face then became serious and she asked, "Are you okay with this, onii-chan?"_

"_No I'm not but we did make a deal." Minato said, hugging her sister. He was trying to hold back the tears but then let them fall when she started crying._

"_I'm gonna miss you guys."_

"_We'll miss you too, sis."_

_An ahem shook them out of their hug and had them turn towards Igor, who was holding a sparkling card in this hand._

"_I never dreamt I would see the Universe card, but both of you have grown so much throughout the year to produce it. You two have truly been remarkable guests. Now go, defeat the one who can't be defeated."_

_The twins nodded and headed out the door._

* * *

As she, Ryoji and Theo finished their descent, Hamuko could not contain her emotions. She ran down the rest of the steps, much to her escorts' gasped dismays, and cannonballed right into her twin brother, hugging him.

Minato staggered back, nearly falling over before regaining his balance. "Hehe, we miss you too, sis." Amused at that site, most of her SEES friends gathered around for a group hug.

"So how's everyone been doing since I've been gone?" Hamuko asked.

"I guess I'll start," Ken replied, wiping a few tears from his tears. "I'll be finishing up middle school in a couple of years and will be enrolling in Gekkoukan afterward." Hamuko was very surprised at how tall he had grown.

Mitsuru continued, "As for me, I'm still the head of the Kirijo Group while taking a few university courses on the side. Don't worry, I take my motorcycle out to keep me from being bogged down."

"And I make sure that she takes those breaks, in between boxing practice and studying in the police academy," added Akihiko, his arm now wrapped around Mitsuru's shoulders. Hamuko was giddy at seeing them as a couple.

Minato chimed in afterward, "As for the rest of us, we're all in the same university."

"Yeah even Stupei somehow," joked Yukari.

"Stop calling me that!" barked Junpei. Then he scratched and spoke with a sheepish grin on his face. "Yeah, Yuka-tan's right. Even I somehow finished high school and enrolled into uni. Anyway, I've been helping Chidori regain her memories bit by bit. She's starting to remember about Personas, Tartarus, the Dark Hour and our relationship." Hamuko smiled at that news.

"I'm studying computer technology and programming at uni, while helping out at the Kirijo Group from time to time," said Fuuka. Then she stuttered, "Still working on my bad cooking though."

"I'm studying to become a doctor and helping improve the Kirijo robot technology," said a fully clothed Aigis, which Hamuko found a little odd. That was until the blond android then rolled up one of the sleeves of her blouse to reveal a more human looking arm in the colour of pink flesh instead of pale white. "Considering it me growing up," Aigis added with a smile.

Koromaru yipped afterward, prompting Hamuko kneel down the shiba inu. "He said that he still hangs around the shrine helping his canine friends, keeping them strong and healthy," translated Aigis.

Yukari spoke next, "I finally resolved the issues with my mother and with the help of your brother. I'm also studying to be a doctor."

Minato spoke at the end, "As for me, I'm studying engineering at uni, in between making a lot of love with Yukari here." He earned a blushing face and a hard jab to his shoulder from his red haired girlfriend.

However, the one person Hamuko was extremely eager to see was not amongst the crowd of SEES. She looked elsewhere on the roof until she found him, a tall, longhaired male wearing a beanie and a burgundy pea coat, standing alone. He grinned and started walking towards them. She, on the other hand, could not wait and ran to tackle him. He must have figured out that she would do that as he caught her and then started spinning together with him, like a scene out of the romance movie. At the end of the spin, she kissed her boyfriend Shinjiro Aragaki, the gruff loner and atoner who showed his hidden caring side to her.

"Tch, idiot. Always making a big scene," Shinjiro said, laughing at her pouting face and as she punched his shoulder.

"So mean. Is that how you treat your girlfriend?" the auburn haired girl whined, still pouting. Everybody else laughed at this.

"Anyway, how have you been doing? You look really well," asked Hamuko.

"Well, I'm not taking those damn suppressants anymore and they have been completely detoxed out of my body. Now, I'm working at a restaurant, apparently being the best cook in town," he said sheepishly. "Everybody's telling me, including the head chef, me to start up my own restaurant. I'm not so sure about the idea yet but Kirijo has said that she would fund it if I ever decide to. I'm also taking night classes for my high school diploma, as well as learning about you from other people."

With an eye cocked wondering what he was talking about, Hamuko looked in the direction at which he was staring. What she did not expect were a few other faces amongst her friends. The first two she recognized immediately as Yukiko and the new Wild Card, a silver hair young man with an athletic build. She wondered who told those two about this meeting until her eyes fell onto the third newcomer, a small slender figure with blue hair wearing a cabbie cap. Hamuko thought it was a boy until "he" got closer and…

"Nao-chan?," gasped Hamuko.

"Onee-chan!" Naoto shouted as she ran up to hug her.

"It's been so long." Hamuko hugged her back and started patting her head while the younger one sobbed.

"Um, I thought you guys said you were friends," said the new Wild Card.

Minato answered, "Yes we did. We aren't actually kin but our parents, when they were alive, and her grandfather were very close friends and thus we grew up together. Naoto used to treat us like older siblings so the titles stuck. After our parents died, her grandfather lamented that he couldn't adopt us, but he made sure that we were taken care of very well wherever we went."

"Anyway, how've you been?" Hamuko asked.

Releasing their hug, Naoto answered, "I've been good. Just finished solving another case with my friends here." She gestured towards Yukiko and the Wild Card, both of whom bowed.

Hamuko returned the bow and then said, "Yukiko, it's so good to see you again. You've grown up quite a bit."

The raven-haired girl gasped. "You remember me from your school trip to Inaba?"

"It's kinda hard to _not_ remember a mature young girl being a junior manager of a famous inn." Yukiko blushed at that comment.

Hamuko turned toward the silver hair teen and said, "You must be my successor. Thank you for discovering the true world in people's hearts"

"Souji Seta at your service. And you're welcome. Yukiko told me a lot about you," the new Wild Card responded.

"Sorry to interrupt the reunion but can you tell us why you sent Theodore and Ryoji to tell us you can't come back?" asked Mitsuru.

The auburn haired girl frowned with downcast eyes before answering. "I wanted to come back, really I do. I was ready to come back to the world of the living. Then I started to have these painful visions. I saw so much death, despair and terror in people's eyes. Even worse, I witnessed these huge dark mushroom clouds bursting from the ground, like in those old vids of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I don't think I have to tell you what that means."

Hamuko's reply startled everybody. The thought of another deadly world war on the horizon just chilled everyone to the bone, especially it possibly being a nuclear war.

She continued speaking, determined eyes looking at her friends, "But there is hope. I also saw a suzaku rising from the ashes to propel humanity to a greater age. I don't know when these will happen. They could happen in a few years, a few centuries or even tomorrow. All I know is that I could never forgive myself if I released the Seal for my whims if it meant that humanity would fall. I can't let that happen!"

"Are you really sure about this?" Yukari cried.

"Not gonna change my mind about it."

Before his girlfriend could answer back, Minato cut in, "Yukari, remember what happened in the Abyss of Time. I don't want to lose my sister again, but we can't let our emotions control us and make us do something rash. Besides, my sister is too stubborn for anybody to change her mind." Shinjiro snorted in agreement, Hamuko stuck out her tongue and everybody laughed.

Then silence filled the rooftop for a while to mull about what to do. None of them liked this at all, but they knew that the Great Seal and thus their friend just yet. Finally, SEES, Souji, Yukiko and Naoto looked at each other, then back at her, and nodded. Naoto was the one to break the silence. "We better prepare for that inevitability."

"What should we do?" Ken asked.

"Preaching about it won't work. The public will think we're like those Nyxism lunatics," Junpei said.

"Especially if it came from your mouth, Stupei," Yukari snarked playfully. Everybody laughed at the mock surprise on the cap wearer's face.

"I'll have the Kirijo group secretly set up bunkers like the one we fought two of the Full Moon Shadows to help prepare for the worst. We'll start by restoring that one," Mitsuru said.

"I'm gonna train even harder in the event that I have to not fight again, but to protect dear to me again," added Akihiko.

"Although I'm a weapon, I think I'd rather be a healer this time around and continue with my doctorate," said Aigis.

Before anybody else could say anything, Theo said, "Hamuko, it's time we returned to the Seal." Everyone gasped at that announcement. He then added, "I wish you could stay with your friends as well, but we can't leave the Seal unattended for too much longer."

Hamuko could tell that everybody's hearts fell, hers included. It took a few minutes before the auburn haired girl sadly nodded and broke the silence. "It's been fun seeing all of you again. I just want to make one last request to all of you. Please live for me. Don't go and fight in that war. I want to see you all die of old age and not from fighting. Do go and teach, prevent and heal, but not fight please. It would just break my heart."

Her teary-eyed plea really hit home with everyone. They all silently nodded to her and to each other to attempt what she asked. Finally, she gave everyone a very big hug and a few kind words of goodbye.

To Souji and Yukiko: "Thank your friends for me for helping your journey and for finding their true selves."

To Ken: "Keep growing up strong and remembering to be a kid once in a while."

To Mitsuru: "Take time to walk out of the busy life and smell the roses."

To Akihiko: "Remember your sister and me but don't let them haunt you. Learn to let go and live."

To Koromaru: "Protect the shrine and friends with all your might."

To Junpei: "Love Chidori with everything you got."

To Aigis: "Keep living and learning as a human. Don't worry about your promise to protect me."

To Fuuka: "Always be true to yourself but also keep improving as well."

To Naoto: "Be strong as always but also embrace your feminine side as well."

To Yukari: "Take care of my brother, you hear?"

To Minato: "And you better take care of best friend, onii-chan."

And finally to Shinjiro: "Don't always be alone. Live for me and live your life to the fullest." They shared one very long, final kiss goodbye before she left once more.

Walking away from her friends with watery eyes, Hamuko waved goodbye before ascending the stairs to return to the Great Seal. Midway up the staircase, she turned around and stared at her departing friends. "I hope I can see them again," she said.

"I hope so too. But if not in this lifetime, maybe in the next one," replied Ryoji.

"We'll make sure that happens," Theo agreed.

Hamuko turned to look at both of them with a sad smile.

* * *

_Afterthoughts:_

_As always, any constructive, non-flaming reviews are always welcome. I really want to know what I'm doing well and bad._

_I realize that Theo and Ryoji weren't really in this chapter that much but they pretty much knew that this was for Hamuko and her friends and didn't want to interrupt._

_I'm not fond of the anime name for the P4 MC, Yu Narukami (roughly translates to "thunder god"). Sounds too "theme-y" for my tastes. At any rate, my plans already had the Souji Seta name set in stone and you'll see why in a couple of chapters._

_I changed Naoto's origin from the typical Arisato kin to family friends because it was getting a little clichéd. Not that what I'm doing is any more clichéd, mind you. Also, I had issues with whether I should add ideas like this (namely Naoto appearing) when I don't have any plans set in stone. I hope that I can think of something coherent for her and the other characters' successors._

_Hopefully, the next chapter won't take at long to do and will be much easier to write. See you then!_


	3. Chapter 3: The Light of One

_For Persona related info: ** wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: ** /wiki/Portal:Main**_

* * *

Time passed quickly whenever Hamuko fell asleep in the Great Seal. It was not much of a risk to do that, she always awoke when Erebus decided to attack and was always able to beat him off for another day. This time around, something else awoke here slumber.

The sounds of multiple explosions and deathly screams.

It was then she knew that her vision and thus World War III had begun.

The screams rang loudly in her ears, every death wish nearly destroyed her mind with the worst migraine possible, and the gunshots and explosions wracked immeasurable pain in her whole body. She even felt like the radiation from the nuclear warheads permeated her entire body.

Regardless, Hamuko stood her ground with her naginata held firmly against a much larger Erebus than she and even SEES have ever faced, looming over her. She cringed at the devilish smiles on both faces of the two-headed gigantic wolf-like Shadow, but then steeled herself for the battle to come.

One of those faces spoke, "Puny human. Why protect a world that wills itself to doom? Why not embrace the darkness and sleep eternally?"

She responded with much venom, "Because for every million people who wish for death, there will always be one whose little ray of hope will shine brighter than the strongest death wishes. My friends proved this to you once before, other Persona users proved this to another goddess, and I will prove this to you once again!"

Readying the Vel Vel Muruga, the auburn haired girl leapt into battle…

* * *

A sickly green glow disturbed Hamuko's slumber.

She was recuperating after successfully warding off Erebus in their latest, longest and most painful skirmish yet. Theo and Ryoji had to help her back onto the Seal; she could not do so on her own with the numerous injuries she sustained. As it was, her body ached as she did a visual search.

The glow had disturbed her deeply; her first thoughts were that the Seal broke, Nyx escaped and that the Dark Hour reappeared. It did not help that she could still feel the pain and suffering leftover from the war. Then she found the source, a black sphere smaller than the moon with girders jutting out and a ghastly green light emitting from within. While not omnipresent as the Seal, Hamuko realized that the sphere was really a spaceship when she could hear two sets of voices from inside: many souls whose pain and anguish could not be heard, and a female voice that overpowered them to obedience. They all had a robotic feel, much like Aigis when she first met the anti-Shadow weapon.

The one female voice changed to a malevolent tone and the ship started firing energy blasts at Earth. They had come to destroy humanity!

"No!" thought Hamuko as she desperately though helplessly wanted to stop them. Then, in a flash, another spaceship appeared, one with silver sheen and an ovoid saucer-like configuration with two blue and red appendages. It attacked with what appeared to be space torpedoes and destroyed the spherical ship.

Initially relieved at the ship's destruction, she was taken aback when she still heard those robotic voices. She looked around the emptiness of space to see if there are more green glowing ships in the area. Seeing none, she looked back at the silver ship and her heart sank, realizing that was from where the voices were emanating. Somehow, those robots teleported to the silver ship and were wreaking havoc inside. She could feel that the human voices were dwindling while the robotic ones increased. Were they brainwashing the humans?

Hamuko fervently wished she could just summon one of her Personae and stop them. A light bulb went on inside her head and called out to the one person who could help.

"Ryoji!" she cried. "Ryoji, I need your help!"

The young dark haired teen with a yellow scarf appeared before her, but she did not like the look on his face. "I wish I could help you, but not without destroying the ship and killing everyone inside." She felt downtrodden at his answer.

He then queried, "Remember your visions though. Did I ever appear in them?" She thought for a moment and then shook her head.

"And you do remember that a suzaku appeared right?" Again, she nodded, though she had to wince at a small explosion that occurred away from the ship.

"I have a feeling we should wait and see."

"You know I'm not that patient a person, especially when humanity is on the line here."

"I know, but good things come to those who wait," he said as many Lego-like blocks popped out of the silver ship.

Hamuko sighed. She hoped he was right.

They did not have to wait long. A bright fiery flash came from the Earth and a rocket burst out of the cloudy skies. She felt three voices in there, ones full of hope. She also heard a distinct word from them, Phoenix. Her suzaku had risen!

However, the robotic voices chimed in again and the silver ship that they took over headed in the rocket's direction. Are they trying to destroy the rocket?

Her answer came in the form of space torpedoes firing at the rocket. Her eyes widened and then she called for Ryoji, "Stop those torpedoes before they hit the rocket!"

"That, I can do," he said as he morphed into the deathly gray coloured, sword-wielding Persona, Thanatos, and flew towards the fired weapons.

"Come on, come on," said Hamuko in a panic. She hoped he could get there in time.

As Ryoji readied his sword to either slash at the torpedoes or fire off a Brave Blade attack, the torpedoes veered off course, very far away from the rocket. Then the rocket disappeared in a flash.

Both of them looked at each other in confusion until Hamuko winced in pain. Ryoji rushed back and asked, "What's going on?"

"The robotic voices, they're screaming in pain, as if they were being killed," she answered before focusing on the silver ship once more. "Yeah, they are being killed. Only the human voices remain so the ship is safe."

"So is humanity," added the human looking Shadow as another flash signalled the return of the rocket to Earth.

Hamuko yawned and groaned as she ached and felt fatigued from overseeing these events. Then another ship in the shape of the letter Y appeared, making her groan even more. "Not more trouble, I hope," she whined.

"I don't think so. This one is red in colour as opposed to the ugly green sphere." Ryoji said. "Hear their voices and feel them out."

She did as told and felt benevolence and curiosity radiating from the new ship as it also headed towards Earth. She nodded at Ryoji

"Then I don't think you need to worry about anything for now. Go back to the Seal and sleep. I'll stand watch and wake you up if anything comes up."

Hamuko yawned once more before nodding and doing as told. Before she fell asleep, she could have sworn her Shadow friend was talking to someone. She heard him say, "You know she's right, father. Humans are very resilient creatures. Take that drunkard who invented that rocket. He now realizes the hope he will bring to the world. Why not give up this pointless pursuit?"

She only heard two growling voices responding as her eyes closed.

* * *

As far as Hamuko could tell, many decades had passed since her vision occurred. There were many ships flying around Earth nowadays, both made by humans and by the aliens known as Vulcans; at least that was she heard them being called. She was elated at how prosperous the Earth had become by overcoming major issues like poverty and how quickly it had survived and revived after World War III. Thus, she had not seen Erebus since that last time they fought.

The crowning achievement of this prosperity was a gray coloured ship in a similar, though circular design to the silver ovoid one she saw those decades ago. She heard that its name was 'Enterprise' and a few years ago, it had flown off on its maiden voyage 'to boldly go where no man had gone before.'

Despite all of this, she felt a constant negative emotion from the blue planet, even from the aliens who rarely emit any type of emotion at all. It was a mix of anger and hatred but could not quite place the name.

"I believe it is called resentment," an elderly female voice said from behind.

Surprised by the new voice, Hamuko turned around only to see a large golden egg with what looked like spider webs surrounding it. She recognized it immediately as the being she sealed away to protect humankind in the first place, Nyx. Though she was on guard, she did not feel any malice and thus was receptive towards the harbinger of the Fall.

"Resentment?" Hamuko queried.

The golden egg glowed as it answered. "The humans resent, as you would call, 'being babied' by their alien benefactors. Why they feel this instead of being grateful towards these Vulcans, I would like to know."

"Simple. When children reach a stage where they feel they can go out on their own, they would resent parents who still try to control their lives."

A youngish male voice chimed in, "Inversely, the parents would resent children who resist such control because they feel their offspring is not ready to leave yet." Ryoji appeared right beside Hamuko as he made that point.

"What are you getting at, Thanatos?" Nyx angrily asked.

"That we are no different from humans. I resent being used to destroy humanity, and you resent that I resist your commands."

"And I resent the notion that I have anything in common with those puny beings!"

"Thanks for proving my point, mother," Ryoji said, leaving Nyx speechless and Hamuko giggling at their argument.

Then, there was a bright flash, startling everyone. As Hamuko took a closer look, her eyes widened as a small sphere had fired a huge laser at the Earth. The ship exploded afterward but the damage was done. She saw a large black line of destruction straight from the whole state of Florida in the United States straight down to Venezuela.

A flood of negative emotions emerged from humanity; Hamuko could feel they were mainly shock, fear, anger, and revenge. She also felt Erebus rousing from his sleep and groaned at the thought of yet another fight. Before she could unsheathe her naginata though, two flashes of light interrupted her: one from Enterprise returning to Earth, presumably to assess the damage, and the other coming from Nyx.

"Hold, Erebus," the gold egg commanded. "I want to see where these events will lead us. Maybe the aliens who attacked will pass judgment on the human race for us."

The gigantic two-headed Shadow double scoffed at this but nonetheless returned to his slumber.

As Enterprise left Earth's vicinity, Ryoji shouted, "As I told father before, humans are resilient creatures and will survive this attack!"

"And the crew of the Enterprise will end this crisis. I believe in them!" added Hamuko.

"We shall see, we shall see," said Nyx as she faded away.

Hamuko was trying her hardest to contain her anger and fear; she did not want to add any more fuel to both Nyx and Erebus. Still, she had hope in the Enterprise completing its mission. Another thing was nagging her though.

"Ryoji, how the heck is Erebus your father?" she asked.

Scratching the back of his head, he responded sheepishly, "Believe me, I was also surprised when I found out. I initially only had a confusing feeling of familiarity with him. I asked Theodore for a little help on the subject by researching a bit of Greek myth for me. Kinda makes sense that Death would be a product of the goddess of the night and the god of darkness and shadow since all four are usually connected."

"As well as malice and other negative emotions. Wouldn't that mean the Fall happened before though?"

"I believe Metis mentioned something like that when your friends were trapped in the Abyss of Time. I'm not too sure though."

Like most of their conversations these days, a big flash interrupted them.

Followed by a giant sphere and a few smaller ships, including a very battered and bruised Enterprise.

"Ryoji!" Hamuko shouted, realizing that the sphere was a giant version of the one that attacked Earth.

"I'm on it!" replied the shadow as he transformed into Thanatos and flew into battle.

"Damage the engines and weapons only. I sense humans in that vessel trying to destroy it from the inside," warned the auburn haired girl.

"Gotcha!" he quickly replied while firing as many Brave Blades as he could.

The damage he caused with the smaller ships attacking slowed the sphere considerably, but it was still able to reach Earth's orbit. Hamuko panicked as it started to power up its main weapon. Just as it was about to fire, it started to explode from the inside. The humans inside were able to destroy the sphere!

Finally, the battered and bruised Enterprise had reached Earth, being welcome by several smaller ships orbiting the blue planet.

"I'd say that's a job well done," Ryoji said, transformed back into his human form.

"I'd agree, but my job is never done," Hamuko replied.

"What's wrong now?"

"I feel elation and relief from humankind but I also feel that resentment growing. Now it's not just about the Vulcans. It's about all aliens on Earth. I'm not liking this."

"Should we be surprised though? They felt being held down by the Vulcans and now they were almost destroyed by another alien race. Despite all the improvements they've made, they are still human after all, feeling both the negative and the positive. It may take time overcome this feeling of racism, but it will happen. Like you told my father…"

"The strongest light from one person will overcome the darkness of one million. You're right, of course. I guess being the Seal is getting to me again."

"Also not surprising," Ryoji soothed. "It is a huge burden for one person to handle, especially with feeling every emotion from humanity as well. You should go and sleep. I'll keep watch."

Hamuko yawned and added, "Alright, and Ryoji, thanks for being here for me."

"You're welcome, milady," joked the young man, earning both a snort and a giggle.

As she fell asleep, she heard him talking to someone. "Humanity has survived once again and will keep surviving regardless of what others do to them or what they do to themselves. They are also learning from each experience and outgrowing their darker sides. Is it really fair to doom them anymore?"

There was no response, not even a flash or growl.

* * *

"Well you are an interesting one," a snarky male voice said.

Startled awake, Hamuko stared at the dark haired man with sickly blue lips wearing a black and red robe. "Interesting in what way?"

"In that you, at such an age so young where only materialism and ego mattered, decided to sacrifice your life for eternity to protect the barbarism that is humankind."

"Thanks, I think."

"I shall have to test your race further." Hamuko's eyes widened. "No, not on you, my dear. I have another subject in mind." He pointed at a new circular silver coloured ship orbiting Earth connected to a space dock; a familiar name was etched on it, Enterprise, this time with designation NCC-1701-D. More specifically, he pointed at an elderly bald male moving about like he was in his 30's. Since the man was giving orders to people younger than he was, she thought he was the captain. "He will be an interesting test, don't you think?"

"From what I've seen, anybody who decides to take on the captain of the Enterprise is in for one severe rude awakening," chided Hamuko.

"Sounds like fun. Goodbye, my dear. Enjoy whatever little sleep you will have left." The man disappeared in a bright light.

"What is it with people and things disappearing into light these days and what the heck was he talking about?" thought Hamuko. She also thought about the captain of the new Enterprise ship and felt she had seen him before long ago. A stifled yawn interrupted her and she let go of that thought.

As she went back to sleep, she reflected upon what she had seen and felt for the past centuries. The anti-alien resentment she felt the last time around had been completely abolished and converted into tolerance and peace in the form of the United Federation of Planets. There were still some negative aspects that remained, like corruption and greed. However, she realized that it is a part of life and that without one side of a coin, the other side of it would not have any comparable form.

There were other challenges towards humanity from other races, such as the Vulcans' more emotional 'cousins,' the Romulans, the warrior-like Klingons, an enormous dark cloud and weird cylindrical shaped ship searching for whales. As before, humanity survived every single challenge, usually with the help of another crew of another ship named Enterprise.

Then her thoughts turned towards her long gone friends. As tears seeped out of her closed eyes, she wondered about how their lives turned out. She hoped that none of them died an early and painful death during World War III. With all the battles with Erebus and the events on Earth, she had not found the time to observe them. Now, she reminisced about all of her friends.

Kenji and his immature infatuation with older women irked her and her brother, but he was a cheerful person nonetheless.

She was glad to help Rio to loosen up a bit and not take everything so seriously.

Maiko's crush on Minato made her laugh but she always thought of the little girl as a little sister.

Now that she was long gone, she could relate to the kindly old couple Bunkichi and Mitsuko, who lost their son in a car accident.

Hidetoshi seemed like a jerk when she first met him during the cigarette butt incident but he redeemed himself by realizing what he was doing was wrong. She actually blushed when he admitted his feelings for her.

President Tanaka seemed like a typical money loving, ethically amoral executive who wanted to exploit her and Minato for his purposes. It was until they made him realize where he came from that he decided to donate money from his own pocket to needy children and to be more ethical in his business practices.

She enjoyed helping Bebe make his kimono and wondered if he ever made it back to Japan again. As she recalled, Minato turned out to be good at sewing from his interaction with their French friend.

She hoped that the unusual drunkard monk Mutatsu was able to resolve his issues with his family. It did not help that he initially had such a gruff attitude towards her and her brother though.

She also hoped that Saori became more assertive in her new school and not let anyone talk her down.

Akinari's plight of being a terminally ill teenager helped her cope with being the Seal.

She did not interact with Kazushi or Yuko as much as Minato did but she knew them to be good friends and that he helped them resolve their issues.

She did talk with Chihiro that much either but she also knew that her brother helped her with her shyness issues. Hamuko could have sworn that the bespectacled younger student had a crush on her brother since she would always stare at him.

It was during these musings that Hamuko realized how much of her friends' lives she would be missing. There were so many things that she would never see:

Mitsuru deftly controlling the Kirijo Group.

Akihiko becoming a lawful police officer.

Fuuka being as technically sounds as ever.

Ken growing and maturing to be a fine adult.

Aigis and Yukari healing patients.

Koromaru exuding his strength onto others.

Junpei and Chidori caring for each other.

Souji and Yukiko managing the Amagi Inn.

Naoto solving cases.

Minato creating great feats of engineering.

She was especially worried about Shinjiro. She hoped that he was still cooking up a storm and living on without her in happiness, even if it would pain her to see him with another girl.

She would never see or spoil their children and grandchildren, her nieces and nephews. She would miss on all of their triumphs and the ability to comfort them in their losses. Missing all these things made it really hurt to be the Great Seal; she would not lie to herself in that regard. The hurt would cause anybody to fall into despair and depression, the things that would make the Seal null and void, and allow Nyx and Erebus to destroy humanity.

However, Hamuko knew she was not most people. She had faced Death, Night and Malice in the eye and made them retreat in fear. She would never succumb to such despair and depression because she chose her fate of her own free will. She became the Great Seal to protect all she held dear and would never falter in this aspect. There was a Vulcan adage that she felt epitomized her and felt dear to her heart.

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few …or the one."

As she remembered all this, she felt more rejuvenated than she had in years and the Seal had become stronger as well. She would not forget why she made this sacrifice and that it would be her strength.

"Wake up, little one," a familiar elderly female voice said.

Hamuko woke to the sight of two unfamiliar faces standing beside to each other. The first was a gold blonde woman wearing a long black gown with a black feather boa wrapped about the neck, the second was a tall male with red eyes, two tiny horns and a toga-like robe that seemed to be made of black clouds. She wondered who they were at first until she realized something about the colour of the blond hair and styling of the toga's clouds. "Nyx, Erebus?" she exclaimed.

"Yes, that is us," Erebus answered.

"What's going on here? The Seal isn't broken," the auburn haired girl said in a panic.

"No, it is not. In fact, child, it is much stronger than I have ever seen," Nyx said.

"Then how are you both her side by side and humanity hasn't died yet?"

"What do you sense from both of us?" the red-eyed man asked.

Hamuko raised her eye brow at that, did as told and was a little surprised at that result. "I don't sense any malice, death or any other negative emotion from either of you. Why?"

"Over the centuries, we have also been observing humankind like you and Thanatos, as well as mulling over both of your words. You both were right; humankind has evolved for the better and has ridden themselves of their wish for death amongst other things. It took them a long time to mature but mature they did. Do you recall what you told me about the strongest light from one person?" Hamuko nodded.

"There has always been a very strong light that blighted the darkness and that was you, Hamuko," Nyx added. "Despite your despair and the trials wrought upon Earth, you never gave up hope and never left the Seal break. Once you knew the truth about the Fall, you sacrificed your life with no thought about rewards, save the one to protect your friends."

"And now it's time for you to be rewarded for conquering this test on humanity. It's time for you to return home," the red-eyed male stated.

Hamuko, reasonably shocked and in disbelief, had to ask,"How do I know that you two won't doom humans once I leave the Seal?"

"Aside from the fact that neither I nor Erebus are malevolent beings by our own nature and only be the nature of humans…" the blonde woman said.

"I will make sure that they stay true to their word," added a familiar younger male voice, as Ryoji appeared behind Hamuko. "It took a lot on convincing on my part, but they agree with us. You don't have to worry about humans anymore."

"And your ability to use the Great Seal will never wane. If you ever feel the need to return here, you can with a single thought," his mother said.

Hamuko was at a complete loss of words and was stunned at the recent turn of events. Before she could say or think of anything, a bright blue door appeared. Exiting the door were Igor, Margaret, Elizabeth and Theodore. Still speechless, she could only nod at their appearance.

Igor spoke, "I've said this to many guests before, but never had it meant as much as it did now. You truly are a remarkable guest to endure such trials for so long. Now, go, enter the door and be … REBORN!"

Theodore held his hand out to Hamuko, "Time to go, milady."

She took his hand and he escorted her to the door, now flanked by his sisters. She looked back at everybody to the wide smiles on all their faces. Once she entered the door, the realization finally hit her.

She was returning home!

* * *

_Author notes:_

_Star Trek references (in order): First Contact (movie), Enterprise Seasons 3 and 4 (Xindi and Terra Prime arcs), Motion Picture, Voyage Home, a little pre-Next Generation_

_Why I glossed over the Original Series: Honestly, I have tried to watch TOS so many times but I couldn`t get over how dated it looked. The only episode I actually watched was The Trouble With Tribbles. Other than that, there weren`t any stories in TOS that revolved around attacks on Earth; only the first and fourth movies did. As you all read, this chapter stayed in the orbit of Earth._

_On Nyx and Erebus` physical appearance: Nyx was easy; she appeared in a previous Megami Tensei game so I used that look. Erebus took a while because, unlike Nyx, there were no physical classical paintings of him whatsoever. Anything I googled Erebus for led to images of an MMO. Therefore, I made up his appearance._

_Well, that`s all I can say for now. See you next chapter!_


	4. Chapter 4: Rebirth

_For Persona related info: **megamitensei [dot] wikia [dot] com/wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: **memory-alpha [dot] org/wiki/Portal:Main**_

_Hey everyone, how's it going?_

_I was planning to re-label my story as a Persona Series/Star Trek: Other crossover, but the labeling didn't allow me to edit the order of the crossover. However, I edited earlier chapters to add the above links for anybody that knows one side but not the other, and added Ryoji Mochizuki as the secondary main character._

_I also edited chapter 3 when I realized that I forgot to add in a line for Saori. Oops._

_I also wanted to add that you might notice some elements from other stories in my fanfic. This was intentional as I plan on referencing said stories with proper credits. The reason for that is that I feel if another story has done a certain aspect very well in my opinion and give me inspiration, I would rather give credit where credit is due than try to plagiarize and paraphrase something I read._

_This chapter is admittedly a little boring and some of its ideas are a little out there. The plan was to show a bit of Hamuko's new life, changes from the 21st to 24th century and a few of her thoughts on the subject, but I think I went a little too long writing it. Mind you that most of the chapters have a specific theme, which why they do get a little too long at times._

_Special thanks to RaylessNight, writer of "Elysion" and "Death and Ker," for semi-beta reading my fanfic. The small tidbit of Ryoji, Nyx and Erebus being family was also because of "Death and Ker" as it reminded me of when I researched Erebus and Nyx in Greek myth a while ago._

_Well, that's all I have to say. Enjoy!_

* * *

? 2364

"Ryoji, Igor, whoever's idea this was is gonna get an ass whipping when I get out!" Hamuko thought she heard laughs of a few younger people and an elderly male. When she was told she was returning home, she thought she would just reappear on 24th century Earth with a little magic.

When Igor mentioned that she was going to be reborn, she did not expect literally be reborn inside a womb AND with her memories and consciousness intact.

As she rolled around in her new mother's womb, she sighed and laughed at her current situation. She had to admit that this was very interesting to her since nobody had ever recalled what being in the womb was like. She did wonder how long she would be here though.

The sudden rumblings told her maybe not too long at all. She felt like her butt was being kicked as her new mother was going into labour. As her head peeked out of the womb and her young eyes blinded by white, she asked again:

"What is it with things appearing and disappearing into light these days?"

* * *

Late July 2372

SLASH. PARRY. COUNTER. DODGE.

STAB. PARRY. COUNTER. DODGE.

A kendo sparring match took place, but it seemed more like an intricate tango to the audience at hand. The crowd, while respectfully quiet, were on the edge their seats, waiting for the final point of the match, which so far had been fast, furious and very exciting. It was taking place in a gym in a small town and much of the audience were residents who had come to watch this fight, if only for the two combatants involved.

A 12-year-old boy from Tokyo wanted to face his current opponent, a seemingly precocious 8-year-old local girl who was quickly becoming famous in some martial arts circles. The boy had reach, height and strength advantages which he used with deft skill. The girl, however, had countered with her speed, agility and technical prowess that kept the match as close as it was. He held his kendo stick over his head, readying for a hard vertical blow, while she held hers close to her right hip as she aimed for a horizontal slash.

Instead of the vertical slash expected, the boy dashed in for a high horizontal backhand slash that she ducked under, followed by a low horizontal one to sweep her legs, which she jump over, leaving her prone to another high horizontal backhand slash. She blocked it by shifting her stick for an over-the-shoulder block, though the force the block hit her back a bit hard. Ignoring the pain, she span, parried and followed up with a vertical slash, which he had to jump backward to dodge.

A few more minutes of this stalemate left the crowd even more restless, audibly so with two pairs of parents trying to encourage both of them on.

In the midst of being on the defensive, the girl got a little frustrated and wondered how she could win this point. After parrying another blow and missing with a counter, she remembered of an old fighting technique she saw and thought of how to implement it. She started by lunging with quick forward stabs from a baseball bat wielding stance to see how he reacted. She noticed that most of the time, the boy countered with a forehand downward diagonal slash that she had to avoid with a high parry. Now that she got the pattern, it was time to put it to action.

First, the girl feigned with a forward stab. The boy countered with his diagonal slash, but she reversed that by pivoting clockwise on her right heel for a spinning backhand horizontal slash. That attack knocked the boy's kendo stick out of his hand, leaving him so shocked that he could not avoid her follow up jumping downward slash that whacked him hard on the right side of his neck and knocked him to the floor. After landing from the jump, she quickly stood over him and pointed her kendo stick at his neck, ensuring the win. The crowd roared at what appeared to be an upset.

The first thing the boy saw after hitting the ground was the business end of her kendo stick. The next thing was the girl moving it from his neck and then lending her hand to pick him up, which graciously accepted.

"Great fight," the boy said. "You really took me to my limit."

"You too," the girl responded. "I can see why you are on top of the kendo world."

"Were, you mean."

"No, are. I just got lucky."

They both just laugh as they took their positions in front of the referee and across from each other. They first bowed to the referee and then to each other before looking towards the crowd.

"The winner, Setamagi" the referee shouted, pointing at the girl.

"I really need to get used to that name," was her only thought while ignoring the incoming crowd.

"You and me both, Hamuko. Or should I say, Minako?" Ryoji said jokingly in the back of her mind. She could only mentally roll her eyes at that.

Since her rebirth eight years ago, Hamuko Arisato was no more and now she was Minako Setamagi of the still present and still beautiful Amagi Inn. She generally looked the same as before, even retaining her odd red eyes, but now she had this gray streak in her auburn hair that somewhat reminded her of Rogue from the X-Men comics. Her new parents said that this was due to one of their ancestors; it didn't take much for her to guess who.

She was very curious about what had happened in her new family since the 21st century and asked her new parents for bedtime stories about them. Her family name was one of the more interesting stories.

Souji was very much in love with Yukiko, so much so that he was very willing to marry into their family instead of her marrying into his. That is, he wanted to take on the Amagi name, reasoning that he did not want the Amagi Inn's name changed to the Seta Inn due to marriage. Many thought that he was being a little foolish and childish about this, Yukiko included, saying that the Amagi Inn's name will not change because of the heiress' marriage.

Her parents found this act very endearing though and sealed the deal for the two lovebirds to be together. However, they also did not want the Seta name to be lost as well and suggested that Yukiko just hyphenate her name to Seta-Amagi to honour both families. For at least a century, this was became their family name until it was shortened to Setamagi.

Hamuko … err … Minako thought that Souji was crazy in love with Yukiko to pull such a stunt, but found it endearing nonetheless. She promised to honour their name to the best of her ability. Still, she wondered why she was a descendent of Souji and Yukiko instead of a descendent of her brother Minato and Yukari, and even Ryoji did not know nor could get any answers from his parents as to why.

"Earth to Minako," an older male voice said.

Startled out of her thoughts, she looked at the man in front of her, her new father actually, in the midst of the crowd surrounding them. "Sorry, tou-san. Just a little tired and overwhelmed."

He chuckled. "Can't say I'm surprised. I mean an older prodigy losing to a newer and local prodigy is big news. You did really well today, Mina-chan." The crowd yelled in agreement to that.

She blushed and said, "Thank you, everyone."

Then, the referee, also her sensei, cut through the crowd to hand her a bo staff and directed her to the floor. "Your audience awaits another performance."

Accepting it with a bow, Minako took to the floor while the crowd returned their seats to watch her demo on wielding a naginata.

To the crowd though, it was not a naginata demo, it was another beautiful dance. The way she quickly and fluidly switched from simple slashes and stabs to twirling the staff around her body to executing complicated manoeuvres like a butterfly kick absolutely mesmerized the crowd.

As she finished the demo with her critical hit attack, the crowd was already standing up with applause.

* * *

"Can we go to the bakery today, tou-san?" Minako asked innocently.

Her father eyed her warily as they exited the Satonaka Gym. "Your mother would kill me if I let you spoil your dinner."

She pouted. "Please! We can get a few pies for the inn and eat them after dinner. I mean, everybody will want to celebrate the news."

He hesitated a bit then said, "I guess we can do that. Alright, you win."

"Yippee!"

"But that means you have extra chores to do, okay Mina-chan?"

"Okay tou-san…."

Minako had forgotten what it was like to be a kid again, ever since that accident that killed her parents in 1999. She did not plan to waste a moment of her new childhood, even if it meant acting like a spoiled brat at times. However, she did know her limits and her new parents knew how to limit her so it was all good.

So far, she had been enjoying life in Inaba. She really liked the quaint small town feel that it had apparently retained since Souji and Yukiko's time in spite of the centuries that have past. Some of those changes actually made the town very famous but its residents insisted on keeping the town small and rustic despite the technological advances.

One of those changes was the creation of the Satonaka Gym by one of their best friends, Chie Satonaka. Her self-taught martial arts style created from her love of Bruce Lee movies and used to fight Shadows became well renowned, so she opened up her own gym to teach part time while still maintaining her police officer career. Junes Inaba branch heir, fellow Persona user and husband, Yosuke Hanamura, funded the creation of the gym and Souji occasionally taught a bit of kendo, though he usually left that to actual masters of the weapon.

Speaking of Junes, the whole franchise closed down a decade of two after World War III due to the poverty, greed and commercialism being abolished from the Earth. The brand's expansion to the small town was not very well received by its long-time residents as it forced the closure of many of the mom and pop stores in the shopping district. Neither the residents nor Yosuke himself was sad to see it go. In his case, he was able to use the land to expand the shopping district and create more stores in the process, while concentrating on his song and music writing that he original did on the side. It became known as Inaba Square.

Another change was the creation of a farm. A few of the residents started to get a little uneasy about the fact that their town food was steak, but there were no farms remotely near the area. They decided to find the closest plot of fertile land to raise cows and grow other food besides rice. It took them a while to find said plot of land and then even longer to raise the cows to the correct standard of their favourite food, but eventually both were done very well. The beef from this farm was so good that it was actually praised as much as and compared to the vaunted Kobe beef. Thus, Inaba beef became a staple of high-end cuisine.

Speaking of cuisine, Minako and her dad passed by one of the shops recently in the area formerly known as Junes, a restaurant called Foreign Queasine. She laughed at the title since it reminded her of a popular website and apparently, the restaurant's founder had the same idea. The premise was that a chef had gotten so bored of the usual Earth cuisine that he decided to take a trip to the stars to obtain new inspiration. Along the way, he worked in restaurants in various races such as the Klingons and the Vulcans to learn their cuisine and then find a way to make them palatable for humans. It took him a lot of time (and plenty of vomiting episodes as the story was told) but he succeeded as there are many Foreign Queasine restaurants around the Earth.

A staple of any town or city as of late, and Inaba being no exception, was a holotheatre. This theatre contained numerous suites where the walls would project various realistic and environments to near-perfect conditions that users could fully interact with all their senses. For example, someone could replay a scene from their favourite novel, whether it be their own variation or someone else's from a database. In Minako's mind, this was a super updated version of a Nintendo or a Playstation and somehow recalled a Playstation 2 commercial with this effect in mind. The holotheatres were heavily regulated as there were risks of holo-addiction where people would rather live in the holo-environments instead of the real world, similar to the video game addiction in the past. Thus, the database logged how many hours per week a person used and denied access if it was over the limit.

Walking through the original Shopping District, she thought about the few places that survived from the 21st century. One of them was Konishi Liquor Emporium. Despite almost being closed down due to Junes and the death of his older sister, Souji's friend Naoki Konishi worked hard to keep the store afloat and succeeded when one of his liquor recipes became famous worldwide. Today, the brand was still sought after and regularly delivered shipments across the Federation.

The Tatsuhime Shrine also remained to this day. Even though religion had slowly become extinct, the residents maintained the shrine over the centuries as a monument to their past and a reminder that "sometimes one needs to look into the past to see one's future." Traditional Shinto practices like the summer festival still take place out of tradition. Sometimes whenever she passed by, Minako had seen an orange and red streak run across the shrine. It had been an old rumour that there was a family of foxes living in there, but no one has been able to confirm that since the 21st century when a fox became a part of Souji and Yukiko's friends. One of these days, she planned to confirm that.

Tatsumi Textiles was another surviving store. Another one of Souji and Yukiko's friends, Kanji Tatsumi, continued his family's textile and tailoring business while making a name for himself with his doll crafting. Word of his prowess spread across the Japanese media since he was the personal tailor to Inaba-born music idol Rise "Risette" Kujikawa. It was through her that he also became a tailor to the stars and once was asked to make formal wear for the Emperor. Much to his dismay, he never wanted the spotlight and decided to maintain the small shop in Inaba. His descendants had regular customers in the Amagi Inn as the Setamagi family always requested new clothes and décor from them.

Speaking of Rise, she decided that after the debacles that were Mystery Food X, she would continue to learn how to cook better while still being an idol. She was only partially successful in that; she had gotten a bit better in not burning or undercooking food but she needed a little more work on spice regulation. However, her baking skills improved immensely after that one success baking a cake with Chie, Yukiko and Naoto. Her staff usually stayed away when she cooks but they always ran to her whenever she baked cakes, pies and other treats. Rise then decided that once her idol career was over, she would start a bakery as well as continue running Marukyu Tofu. Today, Inaba residents still shop at Marukyu Tofu and Bakery for the best tofu and sweets in the area. The Amagi Inn always ordered their tofu and desserts from Marukyu. This was where Minako and her father were going to get their pies.

"So what should we get?" her father asked.

"Do you really need to ask?" Minako replied.

"Aside from your favourite egg custard pies, what else?"

"Apple is always good. Maybe we should try peach or cherry this time around?"

"Hey Mina-chan." "We were just looking for you," a couple of voices yelled behind her.

Minako turned and saw two of her friends, Rina Hanamura and Hideo Tatsumi. Rina was a descendent of Yosuke and Chie, whose family ran both the Satonaka Gym and a local Inaba music store. From what Minako was told, she apparently had Yosuke's orange hair, but in a short mop hair cut like Chie and was athletically built. Hideo was the descendent of Kanji and Naoto, and the younger of two Tatsumi siblings. He had short blue hair like Naoto and was thickly built. Both were the same age as her.

"Ah, hello Rina, Hideo. What's up?"

"We just wanted to congratulate you for the kendo match," said Hideo.

"It was so exciting. I didn't know if you were going to win until you did," added Rina

"Thank you, both of you," said Minako while bowing.

"The naginata demo was beautiful. I think even Hideo was in tears," giggled Rina

"Was NOT!" he exclaimed.

"Was TOO!"

Minako could only laugh. Their banter reminded her of Yukari and Junpei and their playful joking. She inwardly sighed at that retrospection until her dad showed up with the pies and a little follower.

"Hi evewyone," a cutesy voice said.

"Hey Tammy-chan. Helping out at the bakery?" asked Rina.

The younger cute girl nodded emphatically. Tammy Kujikawa was the descendant of Rise and Teddie. She had Teddie's blond hair but Rise's brown eyes. It was not known how or when the music idol and the Junes mascot decided to hook up, but it was known that Teddie was getting a bit tired of Junes and jumped at the chance to try out Rise's bakery idea. His charms certainly helped the bakery open up strong and remain that way. Rise and their friends had to regulate some of his "worse than Mystery Food X" recipes though. As for her name, the family decided as tradition to use Western names instead of the traditional Japanese ones, in honour of Teddie joining the family and taking the name, Kujikawa.

"That's good. I wanna taste one of the cakes you'll bake one of these days,' Minako said. Tammy answered with a wide smile.

"We better get going, Minako, before your mom gets angry," her dad said.

"Ok, tou-san," she said to her dad. She looked at her friends and said, "I'll see you guys later."

"Later, Mina-chan." "See ya." "Buh bye."

On the way to the hoverbus stop, Minako and her dad walked by Daidara's Metal Works, which had been the store where the Investigation Team obtained all of their weapons and armour. Today, Daidara's descendants took up the craft and forged many things from practical tools and furniture to artistic pieces.

They hopped on the hoverbus that just arrived and travelled to the Amagi Inn. Nobody on Earth had personal transportation anymore as a way to cut down on pollution issues, which were mostly non-existent in the 24th century. Everybody preferred to walk and live healthier lifestyles than in the 21st century, Inaba residents and Minako included. There still was public transportation such as the aforementioned hoverbus for travel within a city or town, magnetic levitation, or maglev, trains for travelling between nearby cities and transporter stations for long distance travel. There were transporter stations in every town, but like holotheatres, they were heavily regulated due to massive power consumption.

Finally, the Amagi Inn had gone through a few changes over the years, mostly an addition or two and technological updates, but it retained the same traditional Japanese building style. The hot springs had certainly been expanded, the main building was taller and the number of rooms increased since the last time Minako was there.

* * *

"We're home," Minako shouted as she entered the Inn.

"Mina-chan! You know you are not supposed to shout inside the Inn. You'll disturb the other guests," her mother chided while operating the front desk.

"Gomen ne…"

"Ah, don't worry, dear," her father said as he entered. "She's just really excited after the kendo match."

"Oh, how did that …" her mother was interrupted when Minako was tackled, or rather glomped, by two children.

"Onee-chan!" "How did the match go?" "Did you win? Did you lose?" "Are you hurt?"

"Maybe it would be better if you found out during dinner," their mother chimed in.

"And your sister might hurt even more now that you tackled her," their father added.

"You got that right…" Minako groaned.

"Oh, gomen!" the two kids said simultaneously as they picked her back up.

"Takahiro, Kana, how many times have I told you the front lobby is not a play area?" her mother commanded.

"Gomen…" the two kids again said in unison.

Takahiro and Kana were Minako's twin siblings, younger by three years. While she had pseudo-younger siblings in Naoto and Ken before, she never really had to deal with such energetic younger kids than her younger twins before. It was certainly a new experience for her to take care of two younger kids at the same time.

"Taka-kun, Kana-chan, have you two been playing or watching parrises squares?" Minako asked, referring to a violent 24th century four-on-four team sport. The twins shook their head. "Well, that tackle certainly seemed like one from a game I watched…"

"Oh, you mean the one between England and the USA?" Kana asked.

"Oooo, that was a great game, wasn't it?" Taka added.

"Like that hit Johnson got on Smith"

"And um… um... uh oh!"

It was at this point that Minako coldly stared at them. She really did not appreciate the twins lying to her and especially about watching a violent sport such as parrises squares at such a young age. As cold as her stare, she said in a commanding voice, "Taka, Kana!"

The twins looked at their older sister uneasily before giving each other a sidelong glance and nodding. They then tackled her once again and tickled her.

"Hey! EEK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP!" she yelled as she giggled, wiggled and squirmed during the tickle torture session. They ran off before she could recover and get back at them.

She was about run after them as well until her mom sighed and said, "How many times have I told you not to run in the Inn? Mina-chan, please go and get cleaned up for dinner."

"Hai," was Minako's only response before returning to her room to change. Her room was actually Yukiko's old room and the pictures she's seen of it told her that not much has changed from the 21st to 24th centuries, aside from the improved bits of technology.

Looking into her closet, she decided to change into a plain orange kimono robe instead of the current fashion. She found the styles and colour schemes of 24th century fashion to be very gaudy to her 21st century mindset. She also chose the kimono to prove to her mother that she wasn't going to be a complete tomboy.

As she made her way to the private family dining room, she passed by the kitchen and was overwhelmed by the incredible aroma of the traditionally cooked food. While every household in Inaba had a food replicator, most every resident learned how to cook for emergency purposes and for passing down as lore to ensure that cooking does not become a lost art. She was no exception, as she loved to cook and preferred the taste of real food as opposed to replicated food. She hoped that she could still re-create some of the dishes Shinjiro made for her and their friends a long time ago.

"Shinjiro…" Minako thought solemnly. She shook that thought out of head before entering the dining room.

There awaited the rest of her family. She took the time to ruffle the twins' hair ("HEY!" they both yelled) before finally taking a seat in front of them. Throughout their very delicious dinner consisting of miso soup, teriyaki Inaba beef and the Marukyu Baery pies, the twins kept peppering Minako for her account of the kendo match. Apparently, the inn staff wanted to know the same thing as she could see their shadowy outlines. She and her father recounted the experience with much enthusiasm for both the storytellers and the listeners. Well, save for one listener.

"Is something wrong, kaa-san?" Minako asked.

"I'm still not too keen about you learning kendo," her mother said flatly.

"But I like kendo."

"But it isn't a hobby a nice girl like you should take up."

Minako inwardly sighed. She had learned early on that the townspeople were "progressive traditionalists" or some other saying. That is, they chose to preserve the lore of the past while looking forward to the future. Unfortunately, there were a few townsfolk who were either too traditional, like her mother, or too progressive, such as a typical teenager. She had hoped that such prejudices would be expunged from the human mindset in the future, but some things still take time, she guessed.

"Kaa-san, I still like doing girly things. I like wearing kimonos, playing with umbrellas, and fans, putting on makeup and all that. I just happen to like martial arts as well. Kaa-san, please don't' worry. I'm not going to be a tomboy nor am I going to beat people up."

Both her parents and the twins were quite surprised to hear such an adult speech from an eight-year-old child. After a few minutes of silent eating, her father finally said to his wife, "You know, she is right, dear. She still does girly things. I don't think we should worry too much."

His wife nodded and said, "Okay, Mina-chan. We'll still let you practice martial arts." Minako ran up to both of them to hug them for that.

"Now, I think it's time to turn in for tonight," her father said, much to the twins' dismay. "After a story, of course." The twins enthusiastically grabbed his arms and dragged to their bedroom after hearing that.

While cleaning up the dishes with her mother, Minako said, "Um, are the springs free tonight?"

Her mother answered, "I recall them being free right now but I'd check the book first."

"Okay, kaa-san."

After cleaning up the dining room with her mother, Minako checked the hot springs timetable book and decided to take a dip in the hot springs once she saw it was free for the rest of the night. She couldn't wait as she ran quickly, got changed and jumped into the hot springs. As soon as she sat in the pool, her body felt immediate relief. Her muscles were still a little sore from the kendo match and the subsequent naginata demo so the bath felt really relaxing and rejuvenating. It also gave her a bit of time to think about her new life and how peaceful it was, compared to the hustle and bustle of her previous life as Hamuko Arisato. She hoped it would stay like this way for the rest of her new life.

She felt a sudden odd discomfort in the back of her mind just as suddenly disappeared. She sighed at knowing what it was about and then said, "You know, Ryoji, it's not like haven't seen me naked before."

"Um, I was, uh, trying to be respectful, that's all," Ryoji stuttered quietly. Minako turned around and noticed that he was sitting on the bamboo floor with his back towards her.

"Come on, don't be like that. You know that no one is gonna see you so why don't you take a bath as well?"

"Um well, it looks uh weird for a teenage boy to bathe with a young girl without there being any uh misconceptions. And I uh really don't want a repeat of that incident at Kyoto…"

She could only sigh at that. She remembered how he and Junpei had idiotically decided to get themselves, Minato and Akihiko into trouble by creating an "accident" where they supposedly did not know that the hot springs in Kyoto were about to switch between the men's allotted time to the women's allotted time. After she caught them, she also remembered how Mitsuru executed them for said idiocy.

Minako grinned and said in a playfully menacing tone, "You know, you only have three options right now, Ryoji." He hesistantly turned his head to look at her and visibly gulped.

"You can either join me in the hot springs right now, or the next time I decide to visit the Velvet Room, I will summon Skadi and execute you even worse than what Mitsuru did," – his eyes widened at that – "or I can let you have fun with a certain squid-like Persona with a penchant for fire."

His eyes widened even more and his head shook violently at that last idea. "Okay, okay, you win, you win." He quickly ran to get a towel and then dove into the pool.

Even though she was splashed at his dive bomb, she couldn't help but giggle at still being able to tease him like that and at the visible sigh on his face as he leaned his back one of the giant stones surrounding the pool. "Feeling better, are we?"

He answered back, "You're right; it feels better to actually be in the hot spring than to just feel it from your mind."

"So true," she said as she leaned her back on the bamboo floor near the entrance with a smile on her face and one thought on her mind.

_It was so good to be home_.

* * *

_Author Notes:**  
**_

_Not much I really need to say here. Just only need a request for a good name for a Klingon male and a Vulcan female that hasn't been used in Star Trek before._

_See you next chapter._


	5. Chapter 5: Social DeLinkage

_For Persona related info: __**megamitensei [dot] wikia [dot] com/wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: __**memory-alpha [dot] org/wiki/Portal:Main**_

_Hey everyone, thanks for all the reviews and story alerts and whatnot._

_Just a couple of things to say._

_First being that I added titles to all chapters._

_Secondly, there was a reference in Chapter 4 where I wrote a line where Kanji became Rise's personal tailor. While it is probably a standard thing to write in P4 fanfics, my influence for this was most likely __**"Tailormade" **__by __**Mordred LeFay**__. That well written fanfic had a rare but very cute Kanji/Rise pairing_

_There really isn't much for me to say, so on to Chapter 5: Social De-Linkage_

* * *

Not much changed the next few years of Minako's life. Not that she minded, of course. Sure, Inaba can be a boring town, but she always found a way to pass the time outside the holotheatre and be productive as well.

There was her martial arts training. After excelling so much at kendo and naginata wielding, she decided to learn karate, muay thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She actually learned them so well that she now helped her sensei teach new students in the Satonaka Gym. Now that she thought about it though, she had to admit that it was weird that she would learn such things when she would not need to fight anymore. At least, she did not think she would still need to fight. Still, they were useful skills to have.

Her inn training was also progressing, though not as smoothly as she hoped. While she got the cooking, cleaning and front office aspects down pat, the business side of things were still work in progress. She was not that particularly bad in math but she had some trouble understanding accounting and economics. It was getting easier over time with the help of her parents and the inn staff.

School wise, it shocked her how many high school and university subjects in the 21st century were now taught in elementary and middle schools in the 24th century. It took her a while to adapt to this, but she eventually did well in those subjects.

Not everything was all sugar and rainbows for her, of course. Outside of Inaba, the war between the Federation and the Dominion had been brought very dangerously to Earth's doorstep when a Dominion ally, the Breen, attacked Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco two years ago. In that same year of 2375, that three-year war had finally ended but it had also cost millions of lives across the galaxy and crippled every galactic power in the Alpha Quadrant, especially the Cardassian Union. During the war, Minako had briefly considered whether to return to the Seal or not, but Ryoji stopped her, saying that the people were wishing for the war to end, not for anybody's deaths or anything else negative.

Closer to home, she liked her friends dearly and they like her as well. In fact, they liked her so well that her friends think of her as their leader. She was not too fond of the nickname though and had tried many times to stop them from calling her that to no avail. As much as she liked her friends however, a couple of new ones have this bad tendency to bring up something from the past that she would rather not think about, especially since they usually brought it up in a negative light. This usually led to very intense arguments between her friends that she tried not to get involved. However, the normally cheerful girl seethed in the inside while trying to hold in her anger. The latest argument had finally made her explode.

* * *

A week after school had closed for the summer, Minako, Taka, Kana, Rina, Hideo, Tammy and a couple of other friends decided to rent a holosuite for a couple of hours. At Minako's suggestion, they chose to play an old 21st century game called Devil Busters. She was intrigued by the game due to Minato and Junpei playing the game themselves; she never had time to play it when she was Hamuko though. The older kids enjoyed it but the slightly younger ones were scared witless. To appease them, the older ones decided to play a children's holonovel afterward.

Everyone had worked up a good appetite after all the playing. Much to the younger ones dismay, the older kids decided to eat at Foreign Queasine for the very first time for all. Again, they were quickly appeased when they found out that there was a kid's menu that did not have any alien cuisine in it and bribery of real ice cream.

Even the waiting staff were curious about the group of teenagers and kids. They questioned whether they were ready to eat something like the Klingon gagh (live worms). The teens looked at each other before one of them said the shared sentiment, "Bring it on!" Amused by their courage, one of the wait staff left them a menu and suggested a few of the better dishes like Klingon pipius claw, Cardassian sem'hal stew and Vulcan plomeek soup. Everybody agreed with those suggestions and added in rokeg blood pie, gagh and a couple of others to the mix.

Lunch was a fun affair for all, especially when a few had quickly run to the washroom after tasting a few of the Klingon dishes, much to their embarrassment and everyone else's delight. The few that had to go mused that there was a reason why gagh had the word "gag" in it.

During and after their (mostly) delicious meal, the friends conversed about many topics, like Minako's MMA training, Tammy's baking escapades, the twins' own burgeoning inn and MMA training, Hideo's arts and crafting and his older brother's Starfleet career, and Rina's musical training.

One of their newer friends, Miroku Nagase, then brought up the one topic nobody else wanted to talk about, "So has anybody start up any Social Links yet?"

His girlfriend, Toshiko Ichijo, chimed in, "How about Personas?"

Miroku and Toshiko were the star players of the local soccer club and went to the same school as Minako, Hideo and Rina. They were also descendants of two of Souji's best friends and fellow athletes, Daisuke Nagase and Kou Ichijo.

"Not this again," moaned Hideo. "How many times do we have to tell you that our ancestors accepted what Souji did for the good of everyone? Even your ancestors accepted what he did after he told them"

"More like the good of him only. Regardless of what Daisuke and Kou thought, it's still wrong. Still seems more like using people," chided Toshiko. "How come he didn't give everybody the power of Persona?"

"He didn't even have that ability. None of our ancestors did," Rina added. "Not that it would be a good idea to have such an ability, not if it creates another Adachi."

_Or another Strega, _Minako thought ruefully.

"And he never used people. His friends have always said that," Hideo added

"But how come he's the only one that can change Personas?" Miroku argued.

"Because only the Wild Card can use it. Only people of the right temperament can only use that ability and the ability to use Persona," countered Hideo.

By this time, Tammy, Taka and Kana were about to cry while other customers and the waiting staff were wondering about the noise from the argument. Minako, on the other hand, was just plain fed up with them. She heard her friends argue this too many times to count without any resolution, which always left her in a foul mood. As the argument hit its climax, she snapped.

"Magician arcana are so immature," she said loudly. Everybody stopped arguing, paused to take notice of her and then gasped when she stood up.

Minako just looked at her twin siblings and said, "Will you two be okay going home without me?"

The twins looked at each other with confusion, then back at their older sister and nodded.

"Good. I'm sorry, but I need some fresh air. I'll see you guys later." Before anybody could persuade her otherwise, she left the restaurant without another word.

* * *

"Are you okay, Minako? Did something happen?" Theodore asked, noticing her tense face while moving a chess piece.

"No, nothing's wrong," she replied as she moved a chess piece of her own.

"Today, you were supposed to be out with your friends. Did you just have another argument with them?" he asked while moving another piece.

She said nothing while countering his move.

After that argument, Minako disappeared into the Velvet Room. She had visited many times since she found that door beside Daidara's Metal Works a few years ago, usually either to play a chess game with one of its residents or to take a quick peak at her Compendium. As it turned out, her threat to execute Ryoji with Skadi or Mara was an idle one, much to his relief. Though all of her Personae remained in the Compendium, she was not able to summon them since her rebirth reset her level.

As for the times of playing chess, the pieces took the shapes of Personae from the Compendium and usually with a specific theme. The theme for this game, at Theo's request, was her pieces comprised of Messiah as King leading angels and good Personae while Theodore's pieces had Lucifer as King leading demons.

Usually, time stood still in the Velvet Room. This time around, she specifically asked Igor to allow time to flow naturally like in the real world while she played chess with Theodore because she really wanted to this day to be over. The long nosed old man did this without a word, though she surmised that he knew what her issues were.

She also wondered where Margaret and Elizabeth were. They usually do not leave the Velvet Room so there must be a good reason for that.

"You really don't like it when Social Links are brought up, do you?" asked Theodore as he moved a chess piece on the board. He knew that was the only reason she would come here so angry.

"Not when someone keeps bringing it up negatively like it was just for using people," Minako answered back as she moved another piece. "It doesn't mean that they can slander Souji's good name as well! I can't believe that one of my friends is still questioning this, even though their ancestors understood and forgave him for what he did."

"Are you really talking about Souji or are you talking about yourself?" Igor added in while Theo made another move.

Minako grumbled at that. To her, Social Links did feel like she was using people and she did not like that at all. Those people were supposed to be her _friends_, not some power source. It really sickened her sometimes.

The game continued in silence until finally she called for checkmate. Theo scanned the board to verify, sighed and conceded defeat. "You've certainly gotten better, milady."

Minako groaned yet again, but then noticed Theo's grinning face, realizing that he was just teasing her.

"Good game, Theo." She glanced at the exit door and saw that it was dusk outside. "I better get going before my parents have my hide. I'll see you all later."

As she got up from her seat, Igor then said, "Social Links have always been about the power of friendship. You never used your friends and eventually they will understand that too."

She sighed and nodded before finally returning to the real world.

"She hasn't been doing well as of late," an echoic female voice said.

"No, she hasn't. Eventually, she will find her way again, this I can assure you," Igor said.

"I hope you are right. Things are moving faster than expected and she will be needed."

"She will be ready."

* * *

Minako checked the time at the closest computer terminal and frowned at seeing it was 7pm. Her parents were going to ground her for sure, she mused. She quickly opened up an email program and sent a message to her parents that she will be home soon and will accept any punishment given.

However, she still was in no mood to be with anyone nor was she in the mood to go home just yet. Considering that she was going to be grounded anyway, she just wandered around the Samegawa Flood Plain instead. Eventually, she decided to lie down on the dock, watching the fish go by in the river. She was glad she did that as she got one of the best surprises in her life; the gigantic orange catfish known as the famous Guardian of the Samegawa jumped out of the river.

She heard a chuckle and a deep, echoic male voice speak in her head, "I'm happy to see it still exists in the 24th century."

"I'm glad some things never change," giggled an echoic female voice.

"Huh? Ryoji, Eurydice, what happened to your voices?" Minako mentally exclaimed.

"Um, that wasn't me, and I'm just as surprised," Ryoji said. Eurydice shook her head as well.

"I don't have any other Personae so…"

"Our apologies," said the male voice as it formed into a tall male figure wearing a white mask and headband, and a black trench coat in Minako's mind.

"We didn't mean to scare you all," said the female voice as it became a gold coloured slender female figure with an odd multifaceted scarf wrapped around her arms.

"Um, who are you two?" asked Minako.

"You can consider us heirlooms of the Setamagi family. I am Izanagi and this is Amaterasu," said the male figure.

"As in the gods from the Japanese legends?" The two figures nodded. "And what do you mean by heirlooms?"

Amaterasu answered, "Izanagi was Souji's Persona and I was Yukiko's ascended Persona. We have been passed down each generation of the Setamagi family."

"How were you still able to stay hidden from us this whole time?" asked Ryoji, visibly perturbed at not noticing the extra presences in Minako's mind.

"We generally stay dormant, though observant within each family member until a pressing need requires us to awaken. Normally, we have been able to communicate between ourselves without our possessor not noticing. I assume your affinity and knowledge of Personae allowed you to overhear us."

"So I don't have any pressing need right now?" Minako queried.

"Actually you might. I think you need to hear the real story of how Souji was forced to tell his friends about Social Links," said Izanagi. "Actually, it was my fault to be quite honest."

"How so?"

"During our battle against Izanami-no-Okami, she sent Souji and all his friends to hell," said Amaterasu. "However, they only stopped in limbo due to Izanagi."

"I knew how great a man Souji could be," continued Izanagi, "but it was frustrating to see that he himself had not grown as much as he could. I had to force the issue, act like his Shadow and attack him."

"The battle was very fierce though one-sided in the beginning as Izanagi had a very clear advantage over Souji. His friends cheered him on though and he kept going."

"They stopped cheering when I taunted them about the Social Links, how he was using them and how much of an empty person he was using all Personae but his own."

"Everybody was shocked by this revelation, most especially my mistress, Yukiko. They began to doubt Souji and he began to doubt himself. Izanagi's attacks and taunts wore him down."

"He still held his own for a good while, even though he was still stuck in defensive mode. It also helped that his friends started to cheer him on again, once they realized that I was muddling the truth."

"That was until Izanagi made a fatal error and hit Souji's berserk button: he insulted his little cousin and surrogate sister, Nanako Dojima."

"He fought back harder and I was hard pressed to keep up my defences. His attacks came out stronger, not just because of his teammates cheering him on, but also because of his other links appearing and encouraging him to keep going. In the midst of a blade lock, Souji grinned, knowing he was gonna win. Then he kneed me in the gut, and summoned, through his own sheer will and not via any of his Personae which I locked away, the most powerful lightning attack ever, Narukami." - Minako was very surprised at hearing that. – "The attack destroyed my lightning resistance and left me vulnerable to a very familiar combo of a horizontal slash, a downward slash and a jumping uppercut slash."

"His will and the power of friendship eventually led him to beat Izanagi in the end. He didn't stop there though. He also acknowledged and accepted what Izanagi said and in turn, Izanagi evolved into Izanagi-no-Okami."

"The surprised look in Izanami's face was priceless when my master and his friends returned from the dead. She quickly tried to pummel Souji with everything she got, but he resisted each blow. Finally, I was summoned and fired my ultimate attack, Myriad Truths, and defeated Izanami."

"It didn't end there though. Souji then explained to his teammates about everything Izanagi said: his life before Inaba, the nature of Social Links, the Wild Card, the Velvet Room, Igor. They understood everything and realized that he didn't always go to them, that they went to him much of the time. They were still a little unhappy with him about not trusting them with this information however and he knew it."

"So in his infinite wisdom, he allowed them to punish him for this misstep … with an All-Out Attack." – Minako's eyes widened at hearing that – "I never realized how painful that tactic was until I felt his pain from it."

"When he woke up, his head was lying on my mistress' lap with his hair being stroked. While their friends looked around the new and improved TV World, Yukiko had healed him after the assault and stayed with him until he woke up. She told him that she was still a bit angry but forgave him for everything."

"He in turned apologized again, then sat up, stuck his head out and closed his eyes. I was expecting them to kiss instead…"

"Yukiko bitch slapped him," laughed Amaterasu. Minako giggled as well.

"Souji was actually expecting that, he told me later," Izanagi continued. "He knew he needed extra punishment from her since he was her boyfriend. They made up again though… and made out. Away from their friends, they spent a really long time together alone." Everyone laughed at that last line.

Amaterasu then said, "Souji leaving Inaba the next day hurt everyone a lot, especially Nanako. However, they knew it was not the end to their friendship, even if contact was just by phone calls and emails for a while. They felt lighter with all the burdens of their Shadows being lifted, especially Souji. They also knew he could and would come back anytime."

"And obviously he did return to Inaba, or you wouldn't be born with us in your head, Minako," added Izanagi with a grin.

"And with the corresponding headache," snarked Minako. Izanagi laughed at that as well.

"Well, that is the end of story," finished Amaterasu.

"Feeling better?" asked Izanagi.

"A little," answered Minako.

"So Hamuko," Amaterasu giggled, as the auburn haired girl was visibly surprised at hearing the name of her past self. "Yes, we know who you really are. We are Personae and thus your other selves after all."

"Anyway, you and Souji have something in common in that both of you had misgivings about Social Linking," added Izanagi. "Neither of you liked the idea of using your friends for increasing your own powers."

"But your friends ARE your strength, in more ways than one. Souji and his friends understood that. You and your new friends will as well."

"I hope your right," Minako said. "Maybe I'm the one that's at fault for not telling them the truth."

"I wouldn't fault you for that. You just want to live a new life without the reminder of Persona. It's understandable," Ryoji said consolingly.

"Regardless at what we've done in unveiling the truth, there will always be a few people who will still be fogged from it," said Izanagi. "You just have to work harder to show them."

"You're right, of course." Looking at very dark night and the beautiful bright moon, Minako knew it was time to go home. Before she got up to go home, she was splashed by the Guardian.

"Hey!" she shouted, as she looked the catfish. She thought she saw a grin on its face. Her Personae were just laughing at her, especially Amaterasu who was rolling on the ground while laughing.

"I think it's telling you to be strong," Izanagi said when his laughter subsided.

"It sure has a funny way of showing it though," said Minako.

"Anyway, I think it's time we all went home," Ryoji said.

"Yeah, to my grounding," whined Minako, to the amusement of the rest. As she walked up the stairs from the flood plain to the pathway, she turned to look at the river once again to see the Guardian leap out of it again.

_Maybe it's right, I just need to be strong again_, thought Minako.

* * *

[Afterthoughts]

_References and Plugs:_

_I always liked the idea seeing how the Wild Card's friends would react to finding out about Social Links. There are a few stories that I felt handled this idea very well._

_One of them is __**Jadegang's "Persona 4: The Answer."**__ His handling of the Social Link subplot was written really well. I would say more but that would be spoiling._

_The second was __**Megaolix's "Finding Your True Self."**__ That story is the basis for the story Izanagi and Amaterasu tell Minako. That fanfic is also a better written than mine and had a cool twist ending._

_Lastly, there was a P3/P4 crossover/pseudo-P5 fanfic called __**"Mad Mad World"**__ by __**IStartedTheFireinsert random number here.**__ In this story, both P3 and P4 characters are tasked with aiding two OCs, a Badass Bookworm with Clipped Wing Angel issues and a Cloud cuckoo lander, whom are thrust into a new Persona conflict with the main theme being Alice in Wonderland. It sounds much better than that, trust me. Anyway, this story's take on is pretty mundane as a couple of characters already know about the links and are fine with that since they link up with the new Wild Card. Sadly, this fic seems to have disappeared, much to my disappointment. Maybe someone will find it again._

_Izanagi and Amaterasu speaking to Minako could be considered a reference to __**Kisdota-The Freak Gamer's "Persona 4: Split Personalities."**__ I wasn't planning on that one, though I had planned for Ryoji, Izanagi, Amaterasu and maybe one or two other Personae to speak to Minako. I don't plan on other possible Persona users to have talking Personae like that so don't expect much from this._

_The most powerful usable Zio spell in P3 and P4 is Thunder Reign, but the most powerful Zio spell in P4 is the boss only Narukami, which is a multi-target version of Thunder Reign. Of course, it also serves as a pun to the P4 protagonist's anime name, Yu Narukami._

_Chapter Notes:_

_I realize that Minako might seem a little OOC compared to her usual depiction, but considering what she went through in Chapter 3, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that she had a few changes in attitude._

_Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. See you next one._


	6. Chapter 6: Beckoning Past

_For Persona related info: __** wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: __** /wiki/Portal:Main**_

_Hey again everybody._

_Another chapter coming in a little later than I wanted. Writer's block and ADD are such a bad combination. Anyway, I edited the story summary to reflect that this is NOT a true Persona/Star Trek crossover and to read the Chapter 1 foreword before judging the title._

_Well, on to Chapter 6: Beckoning Past_

* * *

Mid-August 2377

For the next two weeks after the argument, Minako was busy working at the Inn. This was in part her punishment for arriving home late that day and in part because the Inn was very busy during the summer. She did not mind as she enjoyed meeting guests and helping with the various tasks in the Inn, mostly the cooking. However, she also needed a way to tell her friends that she was not very happy with them and that specific argument.

In fact, her friends called her during this time to find out where she was. She just replied with heavy sarcasm that she "was _really busy_ with inn work that she had _no time_ for _friends._ She knew the twins would say otherwise, but that was the point. She hoped that they understood that they really angered their 'leader.' However, she realized that she was not getting stronger, just a little more spiteful.

Her parents were a little more observant though. They knew that there was something up when she spent too much time doing inn work without any fuss about being grounded. They knew there were even more issues when she was actually given days off during those two weeks and only spent them inside her bedroom alone.

While she and an invisible Ryoji were doing some research on her PC, her father barged in and scolded her spending too much time in her room when she was not working. He glowered over her, crossed his arms while scolding her. He then told her that she should spend some time outside and that neither he nor her mom wanted to see her until dinnertime that night.

Minako was very irked at this partly because he was angry but also because he was inadvertently choking Ryoji with the Shadow's yellow scarf when he crossed his arms. After being shooed out of the inn, she laughed hysterically at Ryoji's plight; again, he was not happy about that.

After a leisurely stroll, Minako found herself on the top of Inaba Hill with a Personal Access Display Device, or PADD, for some light reading and research. She cringed at the acronym of the device. It reminded her of the poorly conceived naming conventions for a couple of popular electronic items from her past, the iPod and the iPad. While it was easy for a native English speaker to differentiate between the two names, she was not and got quite confused as to which one was being referred to when spoken.

Speaking of iPod, she took out a replicated version of her old Sony NW-S20x series Walkman mp3 player and Audio-Technica ATH-EM700 SV headphones, and listened to some of her old music, starting with Shuhei Kita's "Soul Phrase." Nobody in 24th century Earth carried such isolating items like her mp3 player anymore, but her 21st century mind felt the need for it as it, like her old friends, were one of the missing parts of her. She made a few modifications when she replicated the player, namely just to increase the original storage. However, she wished she had one of the headphones that Fuuka made for her and her brother, as the sound was incredible and it was a precious gift for her.

While lying down on a nearby picnic table, the auburn haired girl refocused on reading a book on her PADD. However, her mind kept wandering back to the research she and Ryoji were doing. After some minutes of mindless reading, she gave up and wirelessly connected to the local library's network to continue her research.

She and the Shadow with the yellow scarf had been researching about their old friends, wondering what happened to them. The Social Link argument was not just about using her friends; it was about remembering them as well. It was not as if Minako was trying to forget them, she just wanted to look towards the future. The past just kept on beckoning to her, though.

Now, she just kept thinking about them and crying about how much she missed them. She thought that the research would help ease her pain, but it only made it worse. She could not any references to many of them. The only ones she could find were for Mitsuru, Akihiko and Chidori, and these were pre-World War III.

For Mitsuru, it was about her charitable contributions, her advocacy towards peace and the safehouses the Kirijo Group built in case of war. For Akihiko, there were a couple of articles on his boxing career. He apparently continued to box while in the police academy and kept up his winning ways. There was also an entry about them have children, though it did not have any details. Chidori's entry was about a few art pieces she made that were on display in a couple of museums in Japan.

Minako kept searching and eventually found an entry about Iwatodai and Gekkoukan High School. She was glad to see the city survived and the school was still open after all these years. Her happiness faded whenever the school database had no entries about her friends, except that Mitsuru was a valedictorian and the Kirijo Group's connection to the school.

She became so frustrated at the lack of information that she threw her PADD and mp3 player hard to the ground, surprising a daycare of full of children nearby. The kids were visibly and understandably shocked at the uncharacteristic display of anger by the popular and cheerful auburn haired girl. Minako just ignored their hard stares and walked over to the wooden fences to look over the town. In reality, she only pretended to enjoy the breathtaking view, as she did not want the kids or anybody else close by to see the tears welling up in her sad red eyes.

_What happened to everyone? Were there lives happy? Any children? Descendants to meet? Why can't I find anything about them? I miss you guys so much!_

These thoughts nagged Minako so deeply that was full out sobbing now. She felt arms wrap around her neck as Ryoji said, "I miss them, too."

The auburn haired girl kept sobbing as she leaned onto the young Shadow. He, in turn, consoled her as much as he could by hugging her, rubbing he back, stroking her hair and patiently waiting for all her tears to fall. Realizing that they needed a little privacy so no one would think that Minako was talking to herself, Ryoji helped her up a nearby large tree. She sat on a large thick branch, leaning on the bark while he sat across from her.

It took a while, but she eventually stopped crying and started speaking again. "I can't stop thinking about them, wondering how their lives were and how they coped with me being gone."

"They probably did well for themselves, kept you in their thoughts always," replied Ryoji.

"I wish I kept a closer eye on them as the Great Seal."

"Can't be helped. You had to deal with my father the whole time."

"I could've asked you or Theo to do that. Even Igor."

"We both had to make sure you got your rest. Igor would probably be cryptic as ever."

"That's true…" The sadness was very evident in her voice.

_How do I turn that frown upside down?, _Ryoji thought. It took a few minutes of silence, but it finally hit him.

"You know," he said, "I wonder if Kenji was still chasing older women."

Minako eyed him curiously with a face of disgust. "Hopefully not! Rio better of wooed him silly."

"How about Kaz? He and Yuko seemed to be an item."

"Hope so. Didn't like the looks she, Chihiro and Yukari were givin' my bro during Culture Festival cleanup."

"Your bro was a bit of a playa'." The young Shadow laughed as he earned a playful smack from the auburn haired girl.

"Anyway, what about Fuuka?" he continued. "I'd bet she got hired by Mitsuru and started to make some new technology."

"At the very least, she helped Aigis become more human."

"I have to admit, it surprised me as much it did you when Ai-chan showed off her more human looking arm years ago."

"Agreed. I hope she became a really good doctor and saved many lives."

"Especially during World War III."

"Mitsuru's bunkers should have helped, too."

"Yeah, I remember that class trip you had in the one hidden here and it seemed well built. I wonder what else did she, Akihiko and the Kirijo Group accomplish?"

"Aki probably stopped as many war instigators as he could."

"What about Ken? You think he would have fought in the war?"

"He better not. He still needed to learn how to be a kid. Then again, he did have a quiet sense of honour and duty."

"Don't worry. Koro-chan probably reminded him to be a kid from time to time."

Minako giggled. "Yeah, that old dog had that effect on people."

"How about Junpei and Chidori?"

"I hope they married and had children. Though the name Chidori Iori sounds a little funny."

"What about Yukari? I'd bet she whipped your bro into submission." Once again, he laughed as she playfully smacked him. "Well it's true! Remember, he's quiet and reserved, while she's bossy and temperamental as hell."

The auburn haired girl glared at him at first before making a screwy face. "Okay, I concede to both. But you know, he will take action when need be and she means well with her bossiness."

"Very true," said Ryoji. He hesitated for a bit, before asking his next question. "How do you think Shinjiro fared after you left?"

Minako's face beamed at that question. "He probably opened a very successful restaurant after lots of prodding. He's so stubborn about it. I hope he made new recipes. Hey, maybe he wrote a new cookbook, I really need to search harder for that…"

She spoke near endlessly about her late boyfriend, about how they first met, how his gruff exterior hid a softer side and all the fun times they had together. The Shadow with the yellow scarf just smiled and nodded, happy to see her spirits boosted back to her original cheerful self. Underneath that smile hid his sadness though, a sadness at the thought that she would never love him as he did her. _As long as she's happy, so am I_, he thought.

"… I wonder if he had any children. Maybe we could meet his descendants," Minako said with a smile. That smile faded when she took a closer look at Ryoji's face and saw his sad eyes. She started crying again and hugged him very tight. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't think of your feelings."

"It's alright," he said while stroking her hair, "I know you loved him very dearly."

"But it's not fair, me talking about him, while you still love me."

"Being friends is good enough for me."

"But it still hurts you and I know it." She looked at him with a downtrodden face before continuing. "Have I been so inconsiderate, been such a bad friend as of late? And answer honestly!"

"Maybe. Your retaliation was harsh but those two were being jerks. Me, he was your first love, who am I to fight against that?"

"Still, I shouldn't be treating all of you like this, being so distant, constantly thinking of our old friends, comparing them even."

"It can't be helped. We had great friends and we both miss them dearly."

"I just want to know what happened to them. It just hurts not knowing."

"I know what you mean, and I think there is only one way we'll get any of the answers we're looking for," said Ryoji.

Minako thought for a moment before realizing what he meant. "You mean…"

"We need to return to Iwatodai."

* * *

Dinner that night was quiet for Minako. The twins talked about their day at the Dojo and at their friends, but she remained silent for much of the time. Only when one of the twins asked did she mention that she went to read on the hill alone. Her parents were visibly not happy about that, but they gave no grief.

After dinner, they all had to help with a large group of guests from Starfleet Academy, whom had a recommendation to come here for vacation by a certain lieutenant from Inaba. Much to her chagrin, they could not tell Minako what that lieutenant was doing now.

Entertaining them was actually an easy task for a change. They all either wanted to see some traditional Japanese dances or sing some karaoke ("with earplugs," laughed one of the cadets). Minako mused that they probably were tired of reading and holosuites, and wanted to see or do something traditional. Their lieutenant probably had a hand in that.

Tou-san, Kaa-san and Taka played Japanese instruments, while Minako and Kana danced to the joy of all. They all took a turn at karaoke to either more joy (for Taka and Kana), or much groaning (Tou-san had warned the guests beforehand). The guests had their turn at karaoke with much awe and laughter, making an entertaining night in the end.

The guests left for their rooms, leaving the family and their staff to clean up. It was actually a breeze for a change as the Starfleet cadets, while rowdy, did not make much of a mess. "Comes with being in the military, I guess," one of the maids said.

After cleaning up and putting the twins to bed, Minako and her parents were only ones in the family dining room to drink tea before bedtime. _Now's a good time as any,_ she thought before she finally spoke.

"Um, Tou-san, Kaa-san," her parents looked at her, "can we talk about something?"

"What's on your mind?" asked Tou-san.

"Well, you know I'll be enrolling into high school in springtime, right?" Her parents nodded. "And well, would it be okay if I go somewhere else besides Yasoinaba?"

Kaa-san raised an eyebrow. "Now why would you want to do that? You love Inaba!"

"Yes, I do. I've told you many times that I will be the heiress of the Inn. It's just that, I need a change of pace, to see the world outside and have a bit of freedom on my own before I stay here for good. I don't have any dreams in Starfleet or in the stars; I just think a little time in a big city might help me put things into perspective before I settle down again."

Tou-san then asked, "And where did you want to go to high school?"

"Gekkoukan High in Iwatodai and Tatsumi Port Island."

Her parents glanced at each other before slightly nodding and responding. "Give us some time to think about it. Now, off to bed."

"Hai," the auburn haired girl said before doing as told.

A few minutes passed in silence before her parents spoke again. "Well the journey's about to begin, huh?" mused Tou-san.

"You'll make sure she's okay, right?" Kaa-san said to apparently no one in particular.

"Of course," said an echoic voice as Amaterasu appeared before them.

"She'll be safe with us," added Izanagi.

"Good. Then it's decided."

* * *

"Are you serious?" "You sure about this?" "Won't you be lonely?" Won't you miss us?" "Why?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, that last one will take a lot of explaining," said Minako exasperated.

One week later, Minako's parents agreed to her plans to move to Iwatodai, and were currently working with Gekkoukan High and the 24th century equivalent of Child Services towards that goal.

Since there were no private schools in and education was mostly standardized across 24th century Earth (there are exceptions like the calendar), Gekkoukan had to become open to the public and thus had no dormitories to use. This was where Child Services entered the picture. Since Minako would have to live in an apartment on her own, they needed to test if she was capable of that. A representative would be showing up next month to provide those tests, but there were no doubts in anybody's mind that she would pass them with flying colours.

".. and that's why I'm planning to move to Iwatodai," finished the auburn haired girl.

On the other hand, it had also been three weeks since she had talked to her friends and had just called them up to meet at Tatsuhime Shrine to tell them her plans. To say that they were shocked was an understatement; even the twins were shocked, as they were usually privy to any news around the Inn.

"Are you really, really sure about this?" Rina asked again.

Before Minako could answer, the twins sighed, and then Taka said, "You know how stubborn onee-chan can be."

"Once her mind's made up …," Kana added.

"… There's no changing it," finished Tammy

Their elder sister just smirked as an old memory came to mind before messing up the younger kids' hair again ("Hey!").

With a pensive look on his face, Hideo then asked, "Well, I've no doubts that you'll be okay on your own, better than most of us actually." Rina stuck her tongue out at him. "I do have to ask though, which Arcana are you trying to be, Fool or Death?"

The auburn haired girl was a little miffed at that question, thinking he should know better than to ask that. Before she could answer, a male voice spoke, "Fool sounds more like it."

A female voice then added, "Yeah, she's going on a new journey, not finishing one and beginning another."

Everyone looked towards where the voices were coming from and saw that Miroku and Toshiko standing at the shrine gate.

"Minako," Miroku said, "we just wanted to apologize, for arguing with you, hurting you so much."

"Yeah," Toshiko continued, "We didn't know how much it hurt, at least not until the twins told us about tarot and arcana. They gave us an earful on the Magician arcana and how much we were missing on the truth."

"So would you forgive us?" Miroku asked while handing a gift to Minako.

The auburn haired girl was a little surprised at the gesture, but was glad that they were trying to make amends. She did not want to be angry with them anymore. However, she also wanted to punish them a little, which made an evil glint appear in her eye. She noticed that everybody else noticed that evil glint and saw that they had visibly gulped.

"Apology accepted," she said, to the relief of all. That was until she added, "Well, almost."

Toshiko groaned, "Um, what do we have to do?"

"How about you both each have to eat a large bowl of live gagh?"

"Ugh, heck no!" said Miroku.

Minako grinned, looked towards Hideo, Rina, Tammy and the twins, and said, "Well, troops. Your leader has only one command for you." While they grinned and got ready, Miroku and Toshiko stepped backward nervously. Those two were going to wish that they ran instead.

"ALL OUT TICKLE ATTACK!"

Hideo and the rest tackled the two athletes very quickly and tickled them relentlessly. The sounds of laughter filled shrine, while Minako smirked at the sight. _It's good to be friends again_, she thought.

* * *

Early April 2378

Nine months have passed since and the whole town found out about Minako's plans to leave when they found out about the Child Services tests. They were very worried that the popular future heiress of the Amagi Inn would leave the town permanently; she publicly reassured everyone that she would return to Inaba once she finished her schooling elsewhere. As for the Child Services tests, she passed them with flying colours, much to enjoyment of her family and the Inn staff.

Now, it was time for the auburn haired girl to leave Inaba. She had already said goodbye to her parents and the Inn staff before leaving with the twins and her friends for Yasoinaba Station. They reminisced about everything, about all the fun times together, while passersby gave her friendly goodbyes and best wishes.

As they were talking, Minako started to feel very guilty about leaving Inaba. She did not realize how much of an impact she had on the lives of her friends and other residents for just being the cheerful, caring and helpful person she was. However, she also knew that she needed to answer the nagging questions of the past before she could truly look forward to the future.

They made it to the station about a half an hour early, enough time for her friends to completely surprise the auburn haired girl with going away gifts. She had been wondering one of them was carrying a bulky backpack, but never for this reason.

Miroku and Toshiko's gift was a high-end tennis racket. Toshiko then said, "Don't think we didn't notice you looking at the tennis courts very often."

Miroku added, "Gekkoukan has a tennis court, right? You're gonna need it then." With thoughts of Rio on her mind, Minako graciously accepted the gift.

Hideo presented his gift, a handmade orange kimono with a sakura design on the left breast and a green obi. The auburn haired girl was a little surprised at how similar it was to the one Yukari gave her on New Year's Day a few centuries ago. "I found this design online and thought it might look good on you."

She said with a smirk, "Thank you Hideo, but I think you're making Rina jealous." She laughed as both he and Rina coughed a denial and shifted uncomfortably.

After Rina recovered from the teasing, she presented her gift, a pair of orange headphones similar in style to the red ones she used. "You always complained about how sound wasn't as good as it could be, so I looked online and found these specs. They were from around the time of your music player."

Curiously, the auburn haired girl tried them on and was astounded at how similar to the ones Fuuka made for her and Minato. Her only response was to hug Rina really tight, making the latter groan while their friends laughed at the sight.

Tammy then gave the Amagi Inn heiress two gifts. The first was a PADD with a few custard pie and tofu recipes ("These work with replicators, too!") and a few audio files ("I didn't want you to forget my voice").

The second one astonished Minako, though. "Isn't this your favourite blue Teddie bear?" she asked.

""It is, but he doesn't want you to be alone and neither do I," said Tammy. Minako shed a few tears and thanked her little friend.

The twins' gift raised their older sister's eyebrow in wonder. "Eyeglasses? Nobody wears glasses anymore," said Minako. It was true of course as most vision issues were curable. The only exception being born blind, but eye implants fix that.

"Tou-san said they're a family heirloom," Taka said, "something about seeing the truth."

Kana added, "Kaa-san said they might look good on you." Curiously, their onee-chan put them on and looked at her reflection on a nearby display console. She was very surprised by the truth of that statement.

Minako heard a faint giggle in the back of her mind, surmising that Amaterasu had a deep connection to this item. "Thank you," she said to her siblings.

By then, the train had arrived. Saddened by this, she hugged all of her friends before walking towards the train. As she was about to board, she realized something and shouted at them, "No running after the train when it leaves! I don't need you to make a scene!"

Her friends just responded with a shrug. Izanagi, on the other hand was laughing in the back of her mind. _Okay, you need to tell what's so funny_, she thought.

"Just a memory from the past," he said.

"A story for another time," added Amaterasu. They both laughed even harder when their mistress did a mental eye roll.

Once aboard and settled in, the train started to move. Minako looked outside and waved goodbye to her friends, whom ran after the train and yelled back. She shook her head at the sight, slightly embarrassed at the scene they caused, but also could not help but smile at it too.

She then looked forward and caught sight of a sign as it passed by and smiled even wider. The sign had read, "You may leave Inaba, but Inaba will never leave you."

"No truer words have been written," said Izanagi. "Souji came back because this town and its people never left his heart."

"And it will never leave yours, Minako," added Amaterasu.

Minako nodded at that. She then put on her new headphones, turned on her music player and selected a song that reflected the mood.

_Yumi Kawamura – Brand New Days_

_It was going to be a brand new day indeed_, she thought.

* * *

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CRASH!

"EEK!"

"What the heck is that?"

"Never mind, get it!"

_What the hell?_, she thought as she was disturbed from her nap.

Frantically, she thought maybe the train hit something until she realized that the train was standing still at a station. She then heard some people yelling and noise being made, while watching others ran from that noise. She instead ran towards the commotion. The sight she saw made her face palm.

In the gathering of gawking and scared people, there were three or four guards trying to catch very unsuccessfully a very fast orange and pink blur. Minako recognized those colours anywhere.

"Brea!" she yelled.

The blur stopped for a bit, dodged the nearest guard's tackle attempt, ran full speed before pouncing right into her awaiting arms and knocking her off her feet.

"You silly little fox. What are you doing here?" Minako asked.

"Is this animal your pet?" one of the guards asked.

"I wouldn't call her a pet but she is a friend of mine. I don't even know how she got here."

"Apparently she was riding on top of one of the train cars. It was only until the train stopped at this station that a passenger noticed this and notified us."

"I see. Don't worry, she isn't contagious or anything. And I'll make sure she won't cause any more trouble. Right, Brea?" The small fox yipped in agreement.

"Well, I leave her in your hands then. Have a safe trip," the guard said before returning to his duties. The rest of the crowd left while they were talking.

With the pink scarf clad fox in hand, Minako re-entered the train car and went back to her seat. She glanced around the car to see if there was anybody else here, she did not want anyone to question why she was talking to a fox.

"Brea, what're you doing her? Your mother's gonna have a fit!"

"I wanted to go with you and she agreed. Neither she nor I wanted you to be alone while in your new home," Brea yipped.

"That's very thoughtful of both of you, but could you give me a little warning next time?" The small orange fox yipped and nodded.

There was an old town legend about foxes living in Tatsuhime Shrine, but nobody could confirm that. However, Souji, Yukiko and their friends knew better and thus their descendants knew the same.

Minako recalled when she met Brea a few years back, trying to confirm that legend. She went to the shrine, saw a younger Brea whimpering and tried to help her the first time they met. Her mother intervened, thinking the auburn haired girl was trying to harm her child. It took a bit of convincing but Minako was able to calm both of them and assure them that she meant no harm. Since then, she and Brea had been best friends as she had visited her many times while the little sly fox found many ways to sneak up on her, especially in the Inn. In fact, it was one of those times in the Inn that she gave the little fox her pink scarf.

In many ways, Brea reminded Minako of Koromaru. Both the fox and the shiba inu wolf dog were playful, strong and loyal animals who hung out at Shinto shrines. They were also one of her best friends and they all understood each other very well.

Minako actually found that it a bit odd that amongst her friends, old and new with the exception of Aigis, that only she was able to understand them as if they were speaking the same language to her. This apparently was the same for Souji and Brea's ancestor. Was this a side effect of being a Wild Card?

At any rate, she then muttered thoughtfully, "I hope she isn't of the Strength arcana." She did not want to replace Koromaru.

The little fox chimed in, "No, but how about the Hermit arcana?"

"Huh?" She did not think she was that loud when she said that but then remembered about animals having better hearing than humans do. "And what do you mean the Hermit? For one thing, you aren't alone."

"You mean, you didn't know?" said Brea with a raised "eyebrow".

"Know what?"

"Well, I was a bit of a sounding board for you, helping you and your friends with a bit of wisdom and introspection." – Minako had to sagely nod at that – "Most importantly, when was the last time you checked the sea of your soul?"

"What?," exclaimed the auburn haired girl. She had never checked the sea of her soul since her time as Hamuko Arisato. Curious, she did just that and was dumbfounded at the sight.

Unbeknownst to her, she had Social Links of various ranks with pretty much all of her friends, including the fox who was of the Hermit arcana and at rank 9. Also included were the still maxed out Fortune and Death arcana, Ryoji's Social Links as both himself and Pharos.

"Social Links have never been about using people. Otherwise, the power would be useless," Brea said. "They are about creating legitimate, everlasting bonds with people you care about the most. Forget your misgivings, but never forget this fact." The little fox then took out a shrine charm, somehow hidden in her pink scarf, and gave it to her human friend

Minako graciously accepted and nodded. Then she heard a loud, but familiar crack in her head. The Hermit just levelled to maximum! Now, she had the ability to fuse Ongyo-Ki! She pondered about this new Persona of hers until she heard another crack and her eyes widened once again; the Fool arcana was reborn!

Brea then snuggled up to her human friend's body and said, "See what I mean?"

The girl just stared at her fox friend for a bit and then petted her. Shaking her head, she only had one thought:

_What am I getting into this time around?_

* * *

_References:_

_My description of Ryoji as "the Shadow with the yellow scarf" is actually a reference to the Curious George children's book series. The playful little monkey's handler was never given a name, but was always described as "the man with the yellow hat."_

_I always had the idea of the Fox having a descendant in the future. However, __**Lady Starwing's "Persona: Guiding Light"**__ gave me the inspiration for her name. In her story, the fox's child is named Aya, so I named mine Brea as a reference to the main protagonist of the Parasite Eve video games._

_The Apple dig was more about my dislike for their naming conventions and not the actual products themselves (I have an iPod, know that Macs are great computers and am thinking about getting an iPhone later on). The reason is basically the same as Minako's; my parents, who are fluent but not native English speakers, cannot differentiate between pronouncing iPod and iPad. So whenever I talk about my iPod, they think I'm saying iPad and whenever they are talking about the iPad, I hear iPod. Why couldn't Apple name the iPad the iTablet instead?_

_Chapter Notes:_

_Not much else to say. See you next chapter!_


	7. Chapter 7: 24th Century Iwatodai

_For Persona related info: __**megamitensei [dot] wikia [dot] com/wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: __**memory-alpha [dot] org/wiki/Portal:Main**_

_Hello again readers, hope everything is good in the world._

_I just wanted to mention how much of a good idea of it is to have a paper notebook to jot down any ideas anytime I was away from a computer. I've noticed how much easier it is to write stuff down during lunch hour at work than in front of my PC at home. Just my suggestion for any aspiring fanfic writers._

_Other than that, I decided to change the genre label from Mystery/Sci-Fi to Mystery/Drama. I think you'd agree there are more drama elements and practically no sci-fi elements currently and in the future in my planning._

_Well, on to 24__th__ century Iwatodai._

* * *

As her train arrived at its destination, Minako could only stare in disbelief at the sight that she saw. Of course, she looked at a few photos of the city while researching so she should not be surprised, but it was nothing compared to what she saw in person. Despite it being a dark evening when she and Brea arrived, she could tell there were quite a few changes to the city, like the taller skyline of Starfleet styled buildings.

After exiting the train at Iwatodai Station, the auburn haired girl gasped at how much it had changed. For one thing, there was no shopping area anymore.

_This isn't the Iwatodai I knew_, she initially thought. Then she reminded herself that she had not seen the whole area in person just yet and shook away that thought.

Then a yip and a few gasps startled her out of those thoughts, as Brea pointed to the direction they needed to go, ignoring all the people staring a little scared of the little orange fox. Minako had to laugh at that, wondering how some superstitions about certain animals still survived to this day.

* * *

The apartment they were going to was two blocks west of the dormitory where SEES used as their home and base of operations. It was also one of those Starfleet style buildings she saw on the train, which made the city feel sterile and lifeless to her. Entering the building with bags in hand, Minako and Brea went up to the reception desk and greeted the receptionist, who greeted her back.

"Hello, I'm Minako Setamagi…," she started to say, but was cut off by a male voice behind her.

"Ah, so you must be the Amagi Inn heiress, we've been expecting you. I'm the superintendent," a well-dressed man said. Then he looked at Brea and added, "I don't remember any arrangements about pets though."

"Gomen, I told her to stay at home but she followed me on the train. She is house trained so I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience."

"Well, as long it, umm, she doesn't cause any trouble. Anyway, let me show you to your apartment."

He led them to a turbolift and selected the tenth floor. During the ride, they chatted about various things, like Minako's plans and the other tenants of the apartment. She asked about some of the stores, restaurants, food markets and the closest pet shop to get Brea a collar; the little orange fox whined at that last one. He mentioned that the closest pet shop should be one block south and a few good restaurants at a shopping district a block north from the station of Iwatodai Station.

Finally, they made it to her apartment and he gave them a mini-tour. The apartment had a living room, a food replicator, one bedroom and one full bathroom. He lamented that a gas stove were not permitted (like Minako wanted) but tenants were allowed to replicate an electric stove and oven if they wished. He then mentioned to her to contact her if she needed anything, petted Brea, wished them a goodnight, and took his leave.

Once alone, Minako yelled out to seemingly no one in particular, "Well, are you guys going to look around or what?"

Then Ryoji, Eurydice, Izanagi and Amaterasu appeared before her. "Your wish is our command, mistress," said Eurydice, inciting laughter from everyone except her mistress, who had a distressed look on her face.

"Will you guys ever stop with this 'mistress', 'milady', and other formal nonsense?" groaned the auburn haired girl.

"No, milady," said Ryoji with a bow. He had to dodge a playful punch afterward.

While her Personae looked around, Minako took Tammy's PADD and asked the replicator to give her a slice of one of the pie recipes. By the time she brought it to the table, they finished looking around.

"Well, this is certainly a nice place," said Amaterasu.

"Spacious enough for you to practice your martial arts," added Eurydice.

"Really lacks a kitchen though," lamented Izanagi.

"But there is a beautiful view of Port Island," said Ryoji.

"And a balcony too" ended Brea.

Minako took her plate of pie, ate a piece ("Tammy's right, this tastes good, even from a replicator,") and stepped onto the balcony. She was awed at the sight of Port Island and especially Gekkoukan High in the distance.

"We're going there tomorrow, right?" asked the little fox. The auburn haired girl just nodded.

The rest of the night consisted of Minako and Ryoji storing her belongings, and Brea and the other Personae debating on décor choices.

* * *

Minako and Brea started the next day by going to the pet shop. After roughly half an hour there (mostly due to the little fox being uncooperative), they found a pink collar with a gold heart shaped pendant that had the names of both of them, and the addresses of the Amagi Inn and their apartment etched onto it. The auburn haired girl was very amused at the discomfort of her now pet.

Next, they went to the shopping district. It was a much larger area with a fountain surrounded by two floors of shops and a few plots of trees and other plants. As they looked around, they learned from a few locals and information terminals that a stray missile from World War III destroyed the original buildings of that block and killed many people. Luckily, the casualties were not as a high as it could have been because the Kirijo Group saved most of the inhabitants by hiding them away in the bunkers. It took many years after the war for that district to be rebuilt. As Iwatodai and Port Island re-grew though, the Kirijo Group decided to help all the shops and move them from the smaller area at Iwatodai Station to the new shopping district to entice more growth. Additionally, they were responsible for improved residential areas.

As Minako and Brea wandered around the area, she at first did not see any stores from the 21st century. This really disheartened her as she felt like she was losing even more of her past. One such store she wanted to see was Bookworms Used Books store ran by the kindly old couple, Bunkichi and Mitsuko Kitamura. As she recalled, they only had one offspring, a teacher at Gekkoukan, who died young in a car accident. Thus, she did not expect a relative to take over their store, though she had hoped that they sold it to someone else to keep it going.

Then, they came across a shop that had a traditional Japanese look of wood paneling and white paper windowpanes. Much to her relief, this shop was the one the auburn haired girl wanted to see, Hagakure ramen shop. It was in a much larger space than before, while retaining the same décor. After leaving Brea in front since pets were understandably still not allowed to enter restaurants, she entered and found that the décor was the same inside as it was outside. While waiting in the busy lunchtime lineup, she realized that the shop looked like it did in the 21st century but with a bigger space and bigger kitchen area. She espied a signature of Rise Kujikawa when she looked around.

Just as she was about to order, Minako looked at the menu little more closely and gasped; there was an Aragaki bowl on the menu! She should not have been surprised since this was one of Shinjiro's favorite restaurants and that he was a chef in training; the fact he had a bowl named after him absolutely shocked her. Therefore, instead of her original plan to get the Hagakure bowl, she ordered her late boyfriend's creation. Impatience was getting to her, forcing her to focus on the kitchen in the meantime. She wondered if one of his descendants was staffing the kitchen; sadly, she did not see anybody that could be related to him.

Finally receiving her food after a few agonizing minutes of wait, the auburn haired girl rushed out of the shop to closest bench she could find, nearly leaving behind Brea. The little fox had to yelp loudly for her friend to slow down. "Hey, where's the fire?"

Realizing what she just did, Minako slowed down and waited for Brea to catch up. "Sorry, I couldn't wait to eat lunch," she said.

"Even for a friend?"

"When I saw the menu, I knew I needed to try this bowl," she said, sitting down on the closest bench.

"I figured as much," chuckled the little fox.

The Amagi Inn heiress stared at her friend. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"One, I _can_ read. Two, there is a menu on the front door. Three, I saw the name of your late-boyfriend on it and … well, it goes without saying."

By then, Minako looked and felt incredibly embarrassed, especially with all her Personae laughing in the back of her mind too. One she calmed down, she pondered Brea's words and asked, "What you mean 'my late-boyfriend?'"

"I'm a fox. Sly and cunning are a part of the job description," the fox said matter-of-factly. Minako rolled her eyes, though more at the thought of not realizing that her friend was spying on her quite easily.

"Anyway," the fox continued, "let's eat!"

The auburn haired girl nodded and opened the take out dish of the Aragaki Bowl. The pleasant and enticing aroma overwhelmed both of them. The flavour though…

"Oh wow!" Ryoji said. "You weren't kidding about Shinjiro's cooking!"

"Aiya never had anything this good!" added Amaterasu.

"My former master would hate me for saying this, but this beats Souji's cooking and his food was really good,' said Izanagi.

"Please, ma'am, can I have some more?" laughed Brea.

"Brings back memories," said Eurydice. "I'm surprised at how similar this is to Shinji's cooking, even centuries later."

Minako could only nod. If her pleasant look on her face was any indication, she was too busy sighing contently at tasting Shinji's food once again.

* * *

After lunch and an hour of window shopping, Minako and Brea's next stop was Naganaki Shrine.

"I guess this'll be a, um, third home for you, Brea. I'll have to program the doors to let you out whenever…" The auburn haired girl's voice trailed off as they approached the shrine. Suddenly, she gasped loudly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Brea asked with concern.

The girl could only raise her trembling arm and point. The fox looked in that direction and saw a large gold statue of a wolf dog at the shrine entrance.

"Koro-chan…" Minako sobbed solemnly.

With those words, Brea finally understood that the statue was of her long gone dog friend, Koromaru. She saw an inscription underneath which read, "Beloved friend and companion; valiant protector".

The still sobbing auburn haired girl petted the statue head, saying, "Good boy…"

Brea suddenly jumped on the girl's shoulder and wiped the tears off her face. "Thanks," the girl responded, rubbing her face on the fox's.

After a minute or two of prayer, the two of them walked up the tall steps into the shrine proper. At first glance, the auburn haired girl noticed that it looked the same as before. The offertory box, fortune-telling booth and Inari Sushi display were still where they were, though seemingly unused due to the lack of currency on Earth. The area still contained the centuries old tree and the playground with children still playing there.

It was upon closer inspection that Minako could tell that someone took immaculate care in the maintenance in the shrine. All of the wood pieces were lacquered and the metal of the playground sets were shiny, oiled and lacking rust. There were also more plants and foliage than before.

Her eyes wandered to both the playground and a couple of benches behind it. They reminded her of when she helped Maiko cope with the issue of her parents' divorce and Akinari cope with his terminal illness via story writing. She hoped that her 'little sister' married and had a wonderful family despite those issues, while she hoped that the frail young man found a measure of peace when Minato decided to publish his book for everyone to read and with all proceeds going to charity. She closed her eyes to remember what they looked like…

…And then promptly opened them when the sounds of screams shook her out of her thoughts. The instant the screams were heard, Minako groaned in knowing that Brea had gotten herself in a little trouble. She saw that the little fox had wandered the a little too close to the playground and scared all the children and their parents nearby. The fox scratched her tilted head with one of her rear paws; Minako knew that she was imitating a human's reaction of confusion.

"Sorry, everyone,' said Minako, picking up the fox. "She didn't mean to scare you."

The parents and children were still rightly frightened at speaking to a stranger and a potentially dangerous animal. However, one little girl with dark hair tied with a pink bow into a ponytail mustered the courage to ask, "Is she your pet?"

Brea yipped and nodded, while the auburn haired girl chuckled and replied, "Yes, she is. More importantly though, she's my friend." She carried the little fox to the crowd, more specifically that little girl, and added, "Go ahead, pet her. She's very clean, won't bite and is harmless." – Brea glared at her – "Okay, mostly harmless."

The brave little girl did just that and to her surprise, she got her face rubbed by the fox. At that sight of that, the other kids joined in the petting, while their parents sighed in relief.

While the kids played with and ran after Brea, Minako sat with and spoke with the children's parents about various things in the meantime. While talking, she stared at the brave girl who reminded her again of Maiko, both in looks and personality; she wondered if the kid was a descendant.

When the topic of who she was came up, all the children ran up to her to ask for a demonstration. The auburn haired girl blushed, not realizing how well she was known outside of Inaba. In any case, she agreed to their request and practiced (and taught) a few katas to them.

During the demo, something a couple of parents said piqued her interests. They discussed how much she looked like that girl in a portrait at Gekkoukan. She was curious, but decided against asking them since the first day of school was tomorrow.

After an hour or play, the parents and children left, leaving Minako and Brea alone. It was then that they decided to visit the rarely visited area behind Naganaki Shrine, its cemetery. The area was filled with many plots and tombstones, leaving very little space in between.

"Um, isn't it a little morbid to be looking for your tombstone?" asked Brea.

"Yeah, but I need to know what happened," answered Minako. However, she was daunted by the task at hand, turned to Brea and asked, "Um, I don't suppose you can track my scent?"

The fox huffed with indignation, looking like an angry Jigglepuff (in the girl's mind) in the process. "What am I, a tracking hound?"

"I'm kidding!" giggled the auburn haired girl.

"Though you do look like one," added Eurydice while the little fox huffed again.

"Still, this is one needle in a haystack," said by a materializing Izanagi.

"Then we better start looking," added Amaterasu.

"So let's go," finished Ryoji.

While everyone searched, Minako recognized the names engraved on a few of the tombstones. Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered something about those names.

It was scarcely a few minutes when that she noticed something from faraway. She shook her head, and then squinted rubbed her eyes to make sure. "Um guys," she shouted before pointing its direction, "am I seeing things or is that tombstone glowing?"

The Shadow with the yellow scarf peered over that way and nodded. "Now that you mention it, yeah it is."

"Well I've heard of 'finding yourself' but this certainly takes the cake," mused Brea, making Amaterasu stop in a giggling fit and everyone else groan.

"Anyway, let's check it out," commanded Minako, as they ran (and floated) to their destination.

Once they reached there, the auburn haired girl stopped abruptly and gasped at the sight. She expected to that the glowing tombstone would be her own; what she did not expect was that, aside from her brother's, the tombstones next to it would be of her friends in SEES. More tears poured out of her at the grand gesture.

"Souji felt the same way, you know," said Izanagi.

Minako looked up at the Personae, tears still in her eyes, but with a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Inaba was the first time he ever felt like he was a part of a family. Not just his uncle and Nanako, mind you, but I mean all of friends. You're the same about your friends in SEES. They were the first time you ever felt like in a family for a very long time."

She nodded at the black suited Persona and then looked back at each tombstone where she noticed two things. The first was that Aigis' name was not on any of them. It was not that particularly surprising to her since her friend was a robot and was most likely deactivated somewhere. However, she did not like not knowing where she was.

The second thing was that all of them had a caption, some of which completely reflected its owner, she thought. In the opinion of her Personae, the caption she had was very true. It read:

**_Never a cloudy day with her bright, cheerful smile_**

The auburn haired girl blushed at that. Then her eyes gazed at another tombstone and her mouth opened to scream. "No, no, NO!" She collapsed on her knees in front of that stone, sobbing on it uncontrollably.

"Minako, what's wrong?" a concerned Brea asked as she walked up to her friend. Then she looked upon the same stone and had a horrified look on her face. She read aloud, "Shinjiro Aragaki, 1991-2026."

Eurydice and Amaterasu quickly floated to hug and console Minako, while Ryoji hung his head low and said, "Oh man, he died at the start of World War III."

"Worse than that, he died the earliest of anybody else here," added Izanagi. He floated around and looked over every tombstone in the vicinity. "Even worse than that, I don't see any tombstones with the Aragaki name here. I see a few Arisatos, Sanadas and Amadas, but I don't see another Aragaki here. I'm not liking this."

"Can't give up hope, never give up hope," said Amaterasu.

"I know and I won't," said Minako with conviction as her sobbing slowed down.

"C'mon, we better get going," Eurydice said, lending her to hand to pick up her mistress. "If the orange sky is any indication (beautiful sky at that), it's getting dark."

Standing up, the auburn hair girl nodded. As her Personae returned to the sea of her soul, she and Brea exited the cemetery. Before they left the shrine though, she made a detour to the offertory box to pray for the souls of her dearly departed friends and for a great school year.

"Well this is a surprise," a female voice said, interrupting the prayer. "I don't often see kids use the offertory box, much less pray these days."

Minako turned around to see a woman in her mid-30s with long raven hair. She was slender, about half a head taller and wearing a dark blue kimono.

"I don't even see kids run here at the sight of my exams," she chuckled. Then she looked a little flustered, bowed and added, "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Ms. Ite, history teacher at Gekkoukan High."

The auburn haired girl returned the bow and responded, "Minako Setamagi, first year, Gekkoukan. Pleased to meet you."

"Ah, the transfer student and martial arts champion from Inaba. I've heard a lot about you. Actually, I believe you are in my homeroom class of 1-A."

"Hehe, saves time on the intro then." A memory of a previous history teacher stirred in the auburn haired girl's mind. "Um, are you going to be wearing kimonos all year round?"

"Bless me, no. I only wear my kimono on special occasions and the day before the start of the school year to pray at shrine for another great year, like right now," chuckled the teacher. "I leave the quirks to the second year history teacher, Mr. Ono and his helmets. He and his family are big collectors of warrior helmets, mostly samurai ones."

Minako just giggled that and giggled even more when she heard a Yukari-like squeal as the teacher crouched to pet Brea. "Aw, is this your pet?" Ms. Ite asked. "She looks really cute with that handkerchief."

Brea shifted uncomfortably at the attention prompting more laughter from the auburn haired girl. "Her name's Brea and she's more my friend than my pet. I'm a little surprised that you weren't afraid of her."

"I used to have a friend like her a long time ago. You know, one of those fierce looking doggies. Haven't had the time to befriend another one these days. Though you kids are more than enough for me."

After a little more petting, Brea ran back to Minako and yipped at her. "I think she wants to return home."

Ms. Ite nodded, bowed and said, "Well, I still need to pray here, so I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

"Yes, Ite-sensei. Bye!" said the auburn haired girl before she and the fox headed for the exit. She took the time to pet the statue of Koromaru before leaving.

That last gesture did not go unnoticed by Ms. Ite. _Now that looked very familiar_, she mused before walking towards the cemetery.

* * *

"She's kind of a weird lady," Brea yipped as she and Minako walked home.

"Gekkoukan always had a few teachers with funny quirks," giggled Minako. "That second year history teacher she spoke about is most likely the descendent of my history teacher long ago, who also had the same quirk of wearing samurai helmets to class."

"No, I mean, there's something off about her, like she has an odd aura that I just can't place."

"Might just be you 'cause I didn't feel anything."

"I doubt it."

They continued walking home for a couple of kilometres until the auburn haired girl stopped suddenly. The little fox turned to around to see that she was looking up at a modern age apartment building. "We just got here and you already want to move?" joked Brea.

"No, just more memories," said Minako melancholically. "This used to be where I lived with the rest of my friends, at least when it used to be a four story tall, red brick apartment building turned dormitory. More importantly, it was the first time I ever felt like I was home, the first time I felt like I belonged somewhere."

Brea just pounced onto her shoulder and affectionately rubbed her face on her. The auburn haired girl giggled then said, "Yeah, let's go home. So much to do tomorrow."

* * *

_References:_

_I think the idea of adding a cemetery behind Naganaki Shrine is another reference from **Persona: Guiding Light** by **Lady Starwing**. At least, i don't remember any other stories that had that idea._

_Chapter Notes:_

_Aside from wishing for more reviews (namely how to write better dialogues), not much to add. See you next chapter.  
_


	8. Chapter 8: Return to Gekkoukan

_For Persona related info: __** wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: **(**_**e) (n) . (memory)-(alpha) wiki/Portal:Main**

* * *

"I'll never get tired of the view," mused Minako.

The picturesque view of Tatsumi Port Island from the monorail always awed riders. It was a testament to how much the creators cared for their manmade island. From what she could see, they increased the land size, added more greenery like a forest and a park, and built residential areas and a stadium.

As she stepped off the train and onto the platform, the first thing she noticed about Port Island Station was its changes. The movie theatre became a very large holotheatre, while Tatsumi Memorial Hospital looked like there were a couple of wings added.

More importantly for her, the slums behind the hospital were cleansed of the graffiti, filth and seedy bars. The auburn haired girl cringed from the bad memories of the place; namely, those of Ken's mother accidentally killed by Shinji's out-of-control Persona, and Takaya nearly murdering both Ken and Shinji. Remembering Ken's loud sobbing, all the blood loss from her boyfriend and his nearly final words still made her quiver.

Shaking those thoughts out of mind, she headed for Gekkoukan.

* * *

As she was walking to school, a thought had occurred to Minako. Why was the Gekkoukan uniform she was clad in still the same after all the centuries passed? The uniform still consisted of the same zipper blazer and pants or short skirt in dark gray with a white dress shirt as before. She thought there would have been a few differences considering the changes in acceptable fashion in the 24th century. She was brought out of her reverie as she stopped at the main entrance and stared in awe.

_Shouldn't this place be as tall as Tartarus by now?_ Minako thought sarcastically.

In reality, Gekkoukan High School looked the same but was much wider with additional wings and more beautiful. She expected that much considering the increased size of the island, but she was also expecting it to be taller as well.

There were very few students around now and they were mostly second or third year students. Minako arrived at Gekkoukan an hour earlier than required so she could be reacquainted with her old school.

The outer décor looked the same as ever, a bright clean white colour and sparkling clear windows. The gold clock remained in its normal place, looking no worse for wear over the years (or replaced, she mused).

The front entrance shone brightly as the sun's rays reflected upon the stainless steel gate and yellow bricks. Sakura trees lined the walkway and blossoms flew in the spring breeze. So far, Minako was very surprised and impressed at how well Gekkoukan survived or was rebuilt from the ashes of World War III.

The lobby had a few significant changes. The back wall was removed and renovated to the same glass wall and door style as the front to lead out into a courtyard. Due to the advent of replicators, the general store was replaced with a couple of said appliances mounted on the left wall, tables and chairs for a cafeteria type setting, and more shoe lockers. The two statues of the Kirijo Group motto were moved to the front of the lockers for any entering to see and read.

Eventually, she left the lobby to explore the halls.

* * *

Nostalgia was a powerful thing. Thoughts of the past could be so overwhelming that they could blind a person of the present. This was what Minako realized as she approached one of the new wings.

Wandering around those halls brought back many memories. Each room reminded her of the various events she and her friends experienced. When she passed by the new Public Announcement Room, she remembered Saori's heartfelt plea to the whole school to debunk the myths about her. This memory made her absentmindedly enter one of the new wings. The first thing she saw made her gasp loudly.

What she saw was an old style wall mounted display case made of wood and glass. Inside contained pages of anecdotes from familiar names praising a mutual acquaintance. They spoke of how they became friends and how this person touched their lives. Those pages surrounded a large portrait in the middle of the case, underneath of which was a gold plate of the name of the person and thus the building wing.

Hamuko Arisato

Minako knew about this new wing; she had read about them during her research. She just could not believe it until she saw it with her own eyes. As she read each blurb, her eyes were slowing becoming waterfalls. She knew she touched the lives of many, but she did not think it would warrant such a grand display of affection. Her misgivings about Social Linking all but vanished at this point; to see her friends' kind words melted her heart.

"Well, there's a familiar sight. Never a new school year has come without a first year crying in front of that display," said a male voice from behind.

"Oh be fair. It's a sad story and more importantly, it's about your ancestor," said a female voice.

Minako froze at the sound of those voices. _No way!_, she thought as they were very familiar. She slowly turned around, resulting in her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets at the two people she saw.

The male was slightly taller than she was (his 170cm to her 160cm) and had a fit build. More distinctly, he had a short dark blue hair parted down the middle of his head.

The female stood just short of him, even while wearing heeled shoes, and had a fit build. She had long, vibrant and wavy strawberry blonde hair.

Both of them had curious and surprised looks on their faces after Minako turned around. The female walked towards her to take a closer look, then at the portrait and then back at well. "Well, the resemblance is uncanny," she said.

The auburn haired girl was mortally glad that she grew her hair long, tied it up in a high ponytail with her silver streaks hanging in front and left her hair clips at home. Wearing her old hairdo would have made the ensuing conversation even more uncomfortable.

"A little too uncanny for my tastes," said the male. "So who are you and why do you have my ancestor's face?"

"Um, I'm Minako Setamagi and um, I don't know … coincidence?" It was anything but, she knew. Considering his forwardness though, she did not think he would believe the real reason of reincarnation. It startled how he was a descendent of her brother, but did not have his passiveness.

Luckily, the female teen cut in with a pleasant voice. "Oh, the kendo girl from Inaba. Heard a lot about you last year. Welcome to Iwatodai, Port Island, and Gekkoukan. I'm Miki Kirijo, third year and student president-elect. This is second year and vice president-elect, Kyo Arisato."

"Please to meet you!" Minako said with a bow.

"I'm sorry for my partner's" – Miki wrapped her arms around Kyo's, a gesture which lit tons of fireworks in Minako's mind – "gruffness, but his ancestor and her story have been important parts of the past of these cities, this school and more importantly our families. To see her spitting image is really disconcerting."

"Indeed. I'm just as surprised myself when I saw my face on display." _Actually, I'm more surprised at seeing you, my brother and friends' descendants, especially as a couple,_ she thought.

"I knew I'd find you two here," another female voice said. "And I see you've met my newest student." All three students turned towards the nearby doors to see Ms. Ite.

"You know us, Ite-sensei, this is always the first place we go to the beginning of a semester," said Miki.

"Anyway," Kyo curtly cut in, "what did you need?"

"To remind you that the welcoming ceremony will be starting in 30 minutes and that we still need to go over some things."

"Yes, Ms. Ite," both older students said before taking their leave.

"Now," the teacher said, "what are you doing here so early, Minako?"

"I just wanted to get familiar with my new school. You know, get the lay of the land."

"So you know where the auditorium is?"

"Hai." At least Minako thought she did, hoping that it had not been moved.

"Alright, I'll leave you to your exploring. Please don't be late for the ceremony."

"Yes, Ite-sensei," the auburn haired girl said before heading down a hall.

As her student left, Ms. Ite stared at her a bit before staring at the portrait of Hamuko.

"She really looks like you, you know?" she said to the portrait. "I wonder why…"

* * *

Minako found herself sitting in the auditorium a good 20 minutes early. She never liked being late, but was also feeling a bit tired after all that exploring. She was also wary of any older students bugging her about her old portrait. Thus, she put on her headphones, turned on her music player, closed her eyes and waited for the ceremony to start while thinking about what she saw on her way and in the sports building.

After leaving her teacher, she walked by a large window and noticed a large fully-grown tree full of persimmons on top of a hill. Another memory of the Kitamuras popped into her mind. She hoped to taste one of the fruit from that tree.

The sports building had a few changes, mostly upgrades in technology and aesthetics. The only addition was a small parrises squares arena. Walking by the kendo room made her slightly uneasy though. There was a lone dark haired male student practicing there whom also noticed and recognized her. She only thought that he recognized her when his practice drills became fiercer.

As for everything else in school, it seemed like they all stayed the same. There were a couple of places that she had not seen though, but that was all in due time. It was at this point that her music player appropriately started playing "Yumi Kawamura – Memories of You." _A fitting song for my new life so far_, she thought.

"Enjoy the exploration?" Minako nearly shrieked as the question was said directly in her ear. The startled look on her face was much to the amusement of the person asking the question and sitting next to her, Ms. Ite.

"Ite-sensei, you nearly scared me half to death!" she exclaimed, now noticing some students nearby snickering at her.

"What better way to keep your attention on ceremony," laughed the raven-haired teacher. "Besides, someone had to wake you up and I didn't think you'd respond kindly to another student doing that."

"Probably not…"

"Again I ask, did you enjoy your exploration?"

The auburn haired girl forced herself to calm down before answering. "Yes, I did. This school is so much bigger and more beautiful than what I'm used to."

"I agree. It also has a very rich history. I'm sure you'll be a part of it."

_Already am_, Minako thought before kindly thanking her teacher.

At this point, the auditorium was packed with students, teachers, and other staff. Then a black woman with gray shoulder length hair took to the stage to speak.

"Hello, I'm your principal, Ms. Manisa, and I welcome you to Gekkoukan High School. I'll try to keep this as brief as possible as I know a few of you will fall asleep from the lessons of _certain_ teachers." A deep male voice grunted, while much of the student body laugh aloud.

"Anyway, I wanted to implore you to think about, understand, and follow these three adages in your daily lives. The first one was a saying from a previous principal a long time ago. He would always say 'If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well.' I want all of you to give you all and more in whatever you do, whether it be a job, a sport or a relationship. Never give less than that.

"The second one is the old motto of the Kirijo Group, 'Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection.' No one person can do everything by him or herself. So seek aid whenever lacking in an area; there is never anything wrong for asking for help.

"Lastly, here is my personal motto, 'Always reach out to the truth.' Never believe anything at face value, never take the easy road out, always question every lie and always read in between the lines. The truth will always come from hard work."

_Wait a minute, wasn't that the title of one of Rise's song?_, thought Minako. She discreetly looked down at her music payer to search for the track and found it, "Rise Kujikawa – Reach Out to the Truth."

"That's all I have to say. Let's make this another great year at Gekkoukan High," finished Ms. Manisa, this ending the assembly with a round of applause.

* * *

Class should have been a short affair consisting of introductions and course preambles. For Minako, this was not the case. Once she introduced herself, everyone took notice of her due to being a young martial arts champion, the Amagi Inn heiress and, in their words, Hamuko Arisato's dead ringer. She cringed at that last one, not wanting to be reminded of her death. She was also surprised at how many first year students knew of her old persona.

"Seriously, bad pun, mistress," said Izanagi. The auburn haired girl stuck out her tongue at him.

Those same reasons were why she also had trouble getting out of school once the bell rang. There was a huge crowd in the lobby, and practically everyone, especially the older students and teachers, stared at her and a few of them asked too many questions. She sighed; she did not want all this attention and just wanted a quiet return to Iwatodai. She could not even get home at the rate she was going.

Luckily or unluckily, a tight grip on her arm pulled on her and ran her out of school. After a few blocks of running, zigging and zagging, she and the person gripping her stopped at an alley in between two houses to catch their breaths.

"That was some rescue," the supposed 'rescuer' said, "ehhhhhh… oof! Ow…," before finding himself flat on pavement after a quick hip throw. He looked up to see a very irate Minako stepping on his armpit, twisting on his arm and glaring down on him. "What, is that the thanks I get for my perfect getaway?" *arm twist* "AHHHH! Stop!"

"Some 'perfect' getaway," a female voice said behind them. "And how was she supposed to know that you weren't some perverted stalker, Tomochika?

"Give me a little credit, Iori-chan," the boy said. At least I haven't looked up her…" Another angry glare and extra pressure on his arm told him to look away, close his eyes and not finish that sentence. He still received a hard slap from the Iori girl. "Ow… when will the abuse end?"

Minako inwardly sighed; she should have expected no less from Kenji's brunet descendent. Junpei and Chidori's dark long red hair descendent was a different matter as she seemed to have Yukari's temperament.

"Anyway," Iori said, "I'm Midori Iori and this nutcase of a boy is Eiji Tomochika. Nice to meet you, Setamagi-san."

The Amagi Inn heiress bowed, adding a little more pressure to Eiji's arm before letting him back up.

"Thanks… !," grumbled Eiji, before freezing at the next two people speaking.

"Are you causing more trouble, Tomochika?" another female said.

"Wouldn't surprise me one bit," drawly said by a male. "And he needs better escape routes."

"Ah, Kirijo-senpai, Arisato-senpai, what are you doing here?" Midori said hastily before bowing. Eiji quickly bowed as well.

"No need to be so formal," Kyo said.

"Anyway," Miki added, "we were about to invite Setamagi to hang out at Paulownia and save her from that crowd until you two ran off with her. You two can come as well…"

"As long as there's no bickering. I have no time for babysitting," Kyo snarked.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he stays inline," giggled Midori.

"Hey! You're the bigger baby!" shouted Eiji.

"AM NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

Amidst the sniping, head shaking, eye rolling and giggling, Minako just smiled.

* * *

_Afterthoughts:_

_Shorter chapter than my norm this time around. Next chapter will be dialogue heavy instead of my usual over-exposition. See you next chapter._


	9. Chapter 9: Friends New and Old

_For Persona related info: __**megamitensei [dot] wikia [dot] com/wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: __**memory-alpha [dot] org/wiki/Portal:Main**_

_Hey everyone, hope everyone is well._

_Review response: _

_Just to reiterate, my story concept has always been about one of the P3 protagonists being revived centuries after the events of the game and coping with the fact that his/her friends are long gone. I could have used any series based in the far future as the basis; I just happened to use Star Trek because I had the most knowledge about it compared to others. _

_Mind you that I intend to write one or two Star Trek set pieces, a few more references (including one in this chapter) and a couple of original characters based on their aliens a couple of chapters down the line, but it's still mainly a Persona story._

_Re-edit:_

_I did a minor edit in chapter 5 regarding Izanagi's story. I mentioned that Thunder Reign was the strongest lightning spell Izanagi knew of, which was incorrect. The most powerful lightning spell in P4 is Narukami, a multi-target version of Thunder Reign that only bosses such as Margaret can use. Of course, it also serves as a pun to the P4 protagonist's anime name, Yu Narukami._

_Anyway, on to chapter 9 _

* * *

In contrast to every other place Minako had been to in Iwatodai and Port Island, Paulownia Mall was the same size as before except maybe being a little for being a little taller. There was the addition of a second floor to add a few more places, while the fountains where Elizabeth and Theodore dropped endless supplies of coins were revamped with extra spouting statues.

The shops that remained in some way shape or form since the 21st century were the karaoke club, the police station, antiques store, accessory store, Chagall Café, and surprisingly, Club Escapade. New stores included a steakhouse restaurant, a sushi restaurant and a tailoring shop. The music store and arcade were merged into a smaller holotheatre than at Port Island Station, while the pharmacy became a doctor's office. The alleyway leading to the Velvet Room door was still in its same place; whether the Room itself was there was a different matter, which she could not verify with her new companions around.

Speaking of, she, Kyo, Miki, Midori and Eiji were in Chagall Café enjoying some biscuits and pheromone coffee, and chatting away. The main topic, she knew, was herself, the Amagi Inn heiress and martial arts master.

"So why here of all places? Why not some place closer to home?" Eiji asked Minako.

"I just needed a change of pace and scenery before returning to the Amagi Inn. You know, contrasting the peaceful countryside with the busy city life."

"How about some place even farther than here like San Francisco?"

"Iwatodai seemed like the best place to go for what I wanted, and neither my parents nor I wanted to go that far. Besides, I was told that Gekkoukan was a great high school so why not?"

"I have to ask," Midori cut in, "do you really want to take over the Amagi Inn? I mean, wasn't it forced upon you, like you're in some cage?"

In the back of her mind, Minako felt Amaterasu's uneasiness at the questions. They both knew of Yukiko's similar issues. However, she sent her fiery Persona a feeling of reassurance before answering the questions.

"Sorta, but not really. Sure, I do a ton of work, miss out on any plans to go out with friends, and there are expectations outside the Inn to keep the family tradition alive. The thing is that neither my parents nor the Inn staff ever pushed me into this; I made this decision on my own a long time ago. In fact, they did more to stop my workaholic tendencies than anything, citing that I needed a more balanced life.

"Your parents could learn from hers, Miki," snarked Kyo, ignoring the glare from his girlfriend.

"More importantly, the Inn and Inaba are my home with loving family and friends, and caring staff and residents. I'm not gonna leave them."

"Your conviction is admirable, Setamagi-san," Miki said.

"Please, call me Minako-chan. I don't want to feel that old yet." She then scrunched up her face into a stereotypical face of an elderly person, inciting a few laughs.

"Nyet, I always show respect to my underclassmen."

The Amagi Inn heiress shook her head. _So much like Mitsuru_. "Could you at least call me Setamagi-chan?"

"Oui, très bien."

"First, Russian, then French, what next, English?" said Eiji.

"Maybe you should try and learn a new language instead of relying on a universal translator all the time, baka," sniped Midori.

"Could say the same for you, Mido-chan."

That earned them each a dope slap from Kyo. "Did I not say 'no bickering'?"

"Sorry, senpai…" both underclassmen said, while giving each other the evil eye. Kyo just rolled his.

"Anyway," Minako said, "what about each of you? Like, how did you become friends, or in the case of the senpais, a couple?" Miki lightly blushed, while Kyo tried to maintain a stoic face, but his mouth twitched a bit. Minako wanted to ask to more about their ancestors, but knew she could not reveal herself just yet.

Eiji was the first to answer. "Me and Midori've in Iwatodai all our lives, and have been friends since childhood, bickering and all."

"Yeah, somehow…, " Midori said.

"You remind me of a couple of friends back home," giggled Minako. "You know what they say about childhood friends who bicker…"

"Don't even say it!" exclaimed Eiji and Midori simultaneously, followed by looks of embarrassment at what the just did. Everyone else just laughed.

"It's just the pheromone coffee," said Eiji unconvincingly.

"Yeah, that's it," said Midori following suit.

"So you mean it heightened existing feelings?" teased Minako. More blushing and laughter ensued.

"Anyway," Miki said after the laughter died down, "my family used to run the old business conglomerate, the Kirijo Group. They were responsible for building and running many things in Iwatodai and Port Island, including our school and this mall. Of course, with a business having massive influence and big enough to create its own island, there would be accusations of having ties to or being run by Yakuza. Personally, none of those rumours were unfounded, but neither were they proven."

Minako raised an eyebrow, extremely interested. "I'm a little surprised you're so open about that."

"It's in the past, can't really change that. All you can ever control is your own present and future." Miki shook her head before continuing. "Anyway, the Group also became both famous and infamous during World War III for building the safety bunkers underneath Iwatodai and a few other places around Japan and the world. These bunkers saved hundreds of lives, but they also made people question if the Group had a hand in causing the war in the first place just so they can get good press from saving those lives. However, it was proven after the war that they were trying to prevent Colonel Green from starting the war and created the bunkers as a failsafe and backup plan if negotiations failed. The death toll would have been a lot worse had those bunkers not been made. My ancestors, Mitsuru and Akihiko Sanada, were lauded as heroes for this and I have a lot to live up to. Kyo's ancestors also helped."

"'S nothing, really," Kyo said. "Minato just designed the bunkers, while Yukari and another friend, Aigis, took care of the people since they were doctors."

"I wouldn't call that nothing," Miki said, wrapping her arms around Kyo's body, while he looked kindly at her in return.

"Anyway, what about the Kirijo Group now?" queried Minako.

"We're still around," Miki answered. "We're not as big as we used to be but we're leaders in research, science and development. Starfleet gives us a few contracts for starship related items like engine efficiency plans or hull integrity testing when their own researchers and scientists are having issues getting certain aspects right. I believe Iori's grandmother helped with a few of those tests."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Midori said sheepishly. "I don't quite have my grandma's mind for science though I understand it very well; I just prefer artistic pursuits."

"Oh, do you draw?" asked the Amagi Inn heiress, wondering if the redhead took after her similarly redheaded ancestor.

"Nah, Eiji can attest to my bad drawing skills. Really embarrassing considering my famous artist ancestor. No, I'm musically inclined, playing the trumpet and the flute."

"Really good at it, too…" Eiji said wispfully, then reddened at realizing what he just said.

"Um… thanks, Eiji." Midori's face turned as red as her hair.

"So which do you prefer, science or music?" asked Minako.

"I love music, but my parents want me to get into science and maybe Starfleet. I mean I like science, but I don't know if it's for me," Miki answered a bit vaguely.

As they continued chatting, Minako noticed that Kyo was incredibly silent with a sullen look on his face, especially when Starfleet was mentioned. _Was something bothering him?, _she wondered. He did respond to Miki's occasional physical prodding but he did not really talk that much.

"Hey Kyo, you haven't been talking much. How about you tell us about yourself?"

The blue haired boy flatly responded, "There's really nothing to tell. At least nothing I want shared or be shared."

"Okay," the auburn haired girl said, slightly disturbed at the answer. "Any hobbies of clubs you…"

"Fencing, boxing, holophotography."

"What about your ancestors, Minato, Yukari and especially Hamuko?"

"Nothing that can't be found online or in that display."

"But I want to hear it from you."

"Kyo, please," Miki urged, grabbing a hold of his hand.

Kyo looked at his girlfriend intently before sighing. "Fine, I'll tell you about Hamuko. She was one of the most popular girls at school…" With that, he spoke at length about Minako's old self. Various stories were told like how she and her brother helped many of their friends resolve their issues, to her funeral where her whole school and some city residents attended.

Minako was not listening to the story itself though; she was listening to how it was being told. She thought that the rushed and gruff story telling meant that her 'relative' was holding some resentment towards both her old and new selves. It did not surprise her though; she probably left some really large shoes for her family to fill and seeing her face now was not helping matters.

"So we still don't know how she died?" Eiji asked after the story ended.

"Nope, still don't know, even after all these years," Kyo answered. "There were rumours it was because of that Nyx doomsday cult running around during that time but nothing proven since many records of that time were lost."

_Explains why my research turned up nothing,_ thought Minako.

"Though there is one interesting legend in my family," Miki said. "It's been told that one night, some weird light from the moon and a really tall tower popped up out of nowhere. That was a few months before Hamuko died so it's reasoned that those were the cause of her death."

Minako hid a cringe forming. _Can't really refute that._

"Whoa creepy," Eiji said.

Miki added, "There was also a legend where she acted like Jesus and died for our sins or some such…"

"Superstitious hogwash, I say," Kyo said snidely. "Religious fanatics saying ridiculous things because they couldn't prove anything."

"Be fair, we still can't prove anything now."

"Whatever. Anyway, I'm gonna get going. You still gonna stay?" Miki nodded. "Fine, see ya later." And with that, Kyo walked out of the café before anybody else to say goodbye.

Miki could only sigh before turning towards Minako. "I apologize for Kyo's behaviour. He's gruff but usually not this rude."

"It's okay, he probably just had a lot on his mind."

"That I agree with. He's had a hard life so it's not too surprising he doesn't want to talk about the past."

"Especially considering this day," Midori sadly said.

"Why? What happened?" Minako asked.

"For most people, today's the seventh anniversary of the destruction of the Enterprise-D…"

"But for Kyo," Miki said solemnly, "it's also the seventh anniversary of their deaths because of that incident."

_Aw man, not again, _Minako thought. The memories of her original parents' deaths and Ryoji's remorse for that came to the forefront of her mind.

Miki sighed before continuing, "They were Starfleet officers, his father an engineer, his mother a science officer, assigned to the Federation flagship for a few years before it was heavily damaged after winning a battle against a rogue Klingon battle cruiser. The damage was so great that it caused a warp core breach, forcing everyone to evacuate from the drive section to the saucer section and separate the ship.

"During the evacuation of Kyo and other civilians, they noticed that there was a hull breach imminent in the corridor they were in and force fields wouldn't be able to hold it. They stayed behind to ensure those fields would hold at the cost of their lives. They were lauded as heroes, but that was a very small comfort to Kyo."

"It must have been hard for him."

"No harder than any of his punches," Eiji said half-heartedly. "My jaw still hurts from the one he gave me in middle school."

"That is to say, he hated the pity he was receiving and lashed out at the world," Miki said. "He grew out it with a little help, but it never subsided. In fact, it got worse as people also had very high expectations for him, partly because of his famous ancestors and partly because of his parents. He's been like that ever since."

"Except around you, senpai," Midori said, making Miki blush a little. "Anyway, whenever I was around him, I always felt like he had a noose around his throat, even when we were younger."

"I guess I'm not helping matters, looking like one of his ancestors," Minako opined. _Or really being her, for that matter._

"He'll come around eventually. Just give him some time." Miki then looked at the nearest console before adding, "Speaking of, it's getting late so I think we should all head home." The underclassmen agreed and they all left the mall.

"So where do you live, Minako-chan?" asked Eiji.

"Just southwest of Iwatodai Station," she answered.

"Oh, we all live on the island, but we'll walk you to the station," said Midori.

"Hai."

* * *

"You know, you could give us a little warning when you do that," Brea sternly said.

"Like a quick video call," added Eurydice.

"Yes, mommies," Minako joked, dodging a quick tail whip from the little fox and the harp strings from her original Persona.

"However, this food you brought home is really good, so all is forgiven," said Brea. Eurydice nodded in agreement.

Both Brea and Eurydice, who decided to stay home, expected their mistress to go straight home after school. They were understandably worried when she did not show up. However, the auburn haired girl thought ahead of time and brought home a Hagakure bowl to appear them both. Obviously, it worked.

During dinner, there was a lively discussion about the events of the day. There were a lot of laughs but then the discussion was led into territory that Minako still felt uneasy about.

"So, what Arcana?" asked Amaterasu

"Miki might be Empress, but I didn't get a good read," said Eurydice.

"Eiji has some of Kenji's immaturity, so Magician seems right for him," added Ryoji.

"Midori seems like Lovers, being caught between two roads and not knowing where to go," Brea said.

"Or Fortune," Eurydice added. "I remember Orpheus telling me about Minato's friend, Keisuke, whom also had similar issues."

"As for Kyo, the 'noose around his neck" analogy Midori gave seemed spot on. He felt too much like Hanged Man. Similar issues to Naoki Konishi and the murder of his older sister," said Izanagi.

"Um guys, can we lay off the Arcana talk, please?" Minako asked very perturbed.

"Kinda hard not to talk about it when it usually defines who we are," said Brea. "By the way, did you happen to check the sea of your soul?"

Minako grimaced before doing as told. Again, she nearly face palmed when she noticed that she had Social Links with all of her new friends. The odd thing was that aside from Kyo who was indeed the Hanged Man, the others were undefined.

"I don't think it's that bad," Izanagi opined. "I mean, you didn't even notice those bonds forming, did you?" She nodded at that. "Then, just let things happen naturally and you should be fine."

"Still, I want to talk to Igor about this." Everyone agreed.

Then, a chime rang from her tabletop console. Minako went to answer the call, fully expecting her parents and the twins. However…

"Hey, onee-chan." "What's up, Minako?" "How's it going in Iwatodai?" How's your first day at school?" "You try one of my pies yet?" "Meet any cute boys?"

… All her Inaba friends decided on a conference call instead. The screen reminded her of one of the Back To The Future movies for some reason and made her laugh.

"Slow down everyone," laughed Tou-san. "One question at a time."

"It's alright, Tou-san, I don't mind. Anyway, to answer your questions…" Minako was about to say before a certain little fox decided to pounce on her head. Everybody gasped.

"Brea!" "We were wondering where she went." "Why did you take her with you, onee-chan?" "Were you that lonely?"

"Everybody's excitable tonight," mused Kaa-san.

Minako giggled before saying, "I hope your stories are funny as mine." Then she told them a detailed explanation of events since leaving Inaba. Everybody laughed at how Brea followed her to Iwatodai and how she met her new friends, but were incredibly surprised about the Hamuko display and she looked like her. Of course, she left out the finer details about the visit to the cemetery and her real identity.

In turn, her friends told their stories to her. Taka, Kana and Tammy enjoyed their first day of their middle school as they met a few new faces with the familiar ones. Miroku and Toshiko started their first day at Yasogami High joining the soccer team and meeting its senior members. Hideo mentioned his interest in either the home economics club or the one of the science clubs, while Rina nonchalantly thought of it as just another day. Neither Hideo nor Rina were happy about still being called a couple when they never were, but Minako's comparison to Eiji and Midori made them blush and everybody else laugh.

Tou-san and Kaa-san mentioned that everybody in Inaba already missed her and hoped that she was doing well. She responded in saying that she was and that they should not miss her for too long, once Golden Week came around.

After a few more minutes of trading stories, they all bid adieu and went to bed.

As Minako slept, she dreamt of her old friends for the umpteenth time as she could recall. She thought about how their descendants were very much like them in certain ways and imagined how they would react to meeting them. Most of all, she dreamt of the one person she missed dearly.

Shinjiro.

* * *

_Afterthoughts:_

_I really hope I got the Arcana right because I'm really not sure if I did. I'm just thinking whether I should just forego mentioning the Arcana here on in and just focus on general issues._

_Well that's it for now. See you next chapter._


	10. Chapter 10: To Club or be Clubbed

_For Persona related info: __**megamitensei [dot] wikia [dot] com/wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: __**memory-alpha [dot] org/wiki/Portal:Main**_

_Hey guys and gals, how's it going?_

_I got very lazy with writing this chapter. For some reason, I wasn't really feeling it. Hopefully, it won't be so bad for next one._

_Well then, happy reading._

* * *

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room," the ever-enigmatic Igor said.

"Thanks," Minako responded after entering the blue door invisible to everyone but Wild Cards. She looked around the place before asking, "Seriously guys, whose idea was it to turn the room into a starship's bridge?" The décor in question looked like the bridge of the Federation Sovereign class starship, specifically that of the Enterprise-E.

"That would be mine," said Theodore. "I thought that we should get with the times."

"That and he wanted to imagine being the captain of a starship heading into battle," snarked Elizabeth in the middle of her conversation with Eurydice.

"You didn't have to mention that!" Theo shouted a little flustered, making Minako giggle.

"Anyway," Margaret said, shaking her head, "did you need anything in particular?"

"Just answers, though I'm probably not gonna get any clear ones," said Minako. "I just want to know why I'm forming Social Links again. I haven't even signed a contract."

"I believe you know that you are still a Wild Card so Social Links will still be in play," Igor responded. "However, they are just a guide for your own personal journey, nothing more."

"Good, a clear answer for a change. I didn't want to fight Shadows again."

"Only the shadows that you will face are the metaphorical ones."

"I see. Well, that's all I needed to know. See you guys later. Come along, Eurydice." Minako was about to ask her initial Persona about what she was talking with Elizabeth until she was interrupted.

"I hope you have fun next week," Theo said.

"Oh why's that?"

"Let's just say admiration becomes aggravation."

Minako did not know what to think of that.

* * *

_Theo, you could have given me a better warning!_

The next week was hell for Minako. She expected it, but she did not think that it would be this bad. Everybody on the kendo team nagged her to join, despite several attempts to say no.

She wished that they would respect her reason why she would not. Despite Iwatodai being her original birthplace, she loved and was loyal to her new birthplace of Inaba and promised not to join any martial arts clubs in Gekkoukan or Iwatodai. In fact, she still sent and received holorecordings of practice sessions to and from the Satonaka Gym.

Things worsened from there. It turned out that the entire third week of April was devoted to joining or getting students to join clubs. After denying the kendo club's request, every other club badgered her to join. It was getting so bad that the popular girl from Inaba actually wanted to skip school for a day and said as much to her friends.

Apparently, they were not the only ones to notice her aggravation. In the middle of the week, her homeroom teacher, Ms. Ite, decided to step in and tell everyone to back off. She reminded the whole student body that clubs, while great to have on a resume or university application, were completely optional and that harassment to join would not be tolerated.

Minako was glad for the reprieve, so she could properly decide on which clubs she really wanted to join. For the rest of that day, she went to each club and received their info peacefully.

One of the things she noticed was that there were a lot more science based clubs now than in the 21st century; topics included quantum physics and temporal mechanics. She was not too surprised because most people nowadays wanted to get into Starfleet and needed a large scientific background to enroll. She was not most people though; she had her fill of space from being the Great Seal and was in no mood to fight to the death (as opposed to martial arts exhibition fights) that a life in Starfleet entailed. She really looked forward to a quiet country life in Inaba managing the Amagi Inn once she learned what happened to every one of her old friends and finished her schooling in the city.

Anyway, she knew the only sports club she was interested in was tennis, as the memory of Rio burned brightly. In terms of the culture clubs, she was interested in visual arts, band and drama. However, the lack of a cooking club crossed her mind. Everybody in the 24th century was too reliant on using replicators for practically everything that learning old skills never crossed their mind. She was glad that Inaba still reveled in these skills. She wondered if she should start one, though was worried about the turnout.

"Food for thought, you could say," said Ryoji. Amaterasu decided to burn his buns for that bad pun.

"Still, you never know if anybody's interested," added Izanagi.

"True," answered Minako, as she was cooking chicken teriyaki on her newly replicated stove on the Thursday of that week.

Eurydice then said, "If you do plan on starting one up, I hope everyone is used to blood. I want our mistress to teach butchery and skinning skills as well."

Minako was appalled at what her original Persona just said. "I don't know if I'd go that far. Despite the recent war, I'd bet people are still squeamish about blood."

"They should know though. Add it in and say that it's part of a basic survival course."

"Wouldn't that be a club, though?" asked Brea.

"I don't remember actually," said Minako. "I can check tomorrow."

"I've got an idea," Izanagi said. "I think you should set up a cooking display, like the one you used to say that Shinjiro did for your old friends years ago."

Minako just stared at the pot of stew, deep in thought.

* * *

As they entered school the next day, every staff and student were overwhelmed with a tasty aroma. Suffice it to say, most of them probably have not ever had a home cooked meal and ran to the source of the smell, the home economics room.

It was certainly a remarkable sight as Minako deftly showed off her multitasking skills by chopping up meat and vegetables, mixing up a cake batter, and checking all ovens and stoves to ensuring proper cooking. What also amazed them was that she was talking to everybody while doing this and that she had a helper in a little orange fox wearing a pink bandana and brown leather leash around its neck.

On the other hand, Minako was working just as hard to cook as to hide her stress. While she knew how to cook well and that last night's practice run went well without any hitches, she wondered if she was doing too much too fast. She was glad that Brea agreed to help and was really doing a good job at tending to the stoves and ovens.

Off to the side, she noticed her new friends as well as Ms. Ite and Ms. Manisa with varying looks on their faces. Both teachers smirked at the sight, Eiji looked surprised, Midori cheered her on, Miki had a grin on her face, but Kyo just blankly stared.

After another hour, Minako and Brea (with the help of Miki and Midori) served a breakfast consisting of two sets of muffins (blueberry and banana), miso soup, paella and chicken curry. Suffice it to say, school started much later than usual if the sated looks on everyone's faces were any indication. By the end of it, they praised the great food and the chefs.

Minako silently thanked Shinjiro for the cooking lessons long ago and the Inn chefs for the lessons now.

"Well, I hope everyone's full and happy, and not feeling any effects of food poisoning," she said. "I didn't want anybody to eat Mystery Food X or some such." Amaterasu fumed at that joke, while Izanagi laughed.

"Anyway, I believe that cooking is slowly becoming a very lost art with the advent of the food replicator. However, as some of you can tell, there is a distinct difference between the taste of food from a replicator and real food cooked by your own hands with love. So, I want to start a cooking club to keep this art from dying.

"Now, I will be teaching you everything in cooking, including the butchery of meats." This got a few reactions of disgust. "Not that you will really have to do that since most meats of precut and prepackaged, but it's a good skill to have, especially out in the wilderness on a camping trip.

"So, who would like to join?" finished Minako.

As expected, most of the people who came and left just wanted to take the opportunity of a free meal. Still, there was a lot of murmuring in the crowd and quite a bit of interest. However, the idea of chopping up a dead animal really did not appeal to many, regardless of the skills they would learn.

In the end, she had ten students and a couple of teachers join, including Ms. Ite. Two of the students made her curious, though. Based on their family names, they could be the descendants of best friends, Fuuka Yamagishi and Natsuki Moriyama.

Inwardly, Minako grinned at this result.

* * *

After classes ended for the day, Minako rushed straight to the tennis courts with her tennis racket going-away gift. Unfortunately, she had to cross paths with the kendo club, who again nagged her to join. She just walked by and ignored them as she walked out the doors to the tennis courts.

After she opened those doors, she was in for a shock. "Eiji, what are you doing here?"

"Playing tennis of course, Minako-chan," the brunet male responded sarcastically. "You?"

"Joining, of course."

"Great. Tennis is my passion, been playing since I've been a kid. I'll show you the ropes."

"Okay. Don't take it easy on me just cuz I'm your friend."

"Never do. In fact, I push them harder."

"Good, I love a challenge. Expect to be pushed back."

For the next hour, Minako and Eiji enjoyed a short round of tennis.

* * *

"Have you ever played tennis before?" Eiji asked.

"Maybe in a previous lifetime?" Minako half-lied. "Never really played it extensively.

"Well, you're pretty good for a newcomer."

"Comes with the martial arts training."

"Hey less talk, more cooking," shouted Midori.

"Agreed," said Miki. "My stomach's growling right now and I think I hear Kyo's as well."

He just shrugged.

After tennis club, Minako invited her friends to cook with her in the home economics room since she had leftover ingredients in the fridge. What they wanted to cook was no easy task though. They wanted her to re-create the Aragaki Bowl from Hagakure.

Ramen was one thing, as she had handmade tons of ramen noodles before, even if it usually caused her a bit a trouble to do. Re-creating the Aragaki Bowl was a different monster all together; it had so many intricacies and nuances that were only known to those who mastered the recipe. She had considered telling her friends to just go to Hagakure if they really wanted to eat that, but she was always up for a challenge and creating something that Shinjiro cooked up was a plus.

Off to the side, Brea was starting up a pot full of broth. She had to yip every so often to get advice on adding the correct spices and seasonings, as they were key for any meal to taste good.

Minako had already a couple of batches of noodle dough and was letting them rest so they could be cut. As she cut up some meat, a thought entered into her head. "You know, you guys can help us if you really want to the food any faster," she inferred to the rest of her friends.

"Uh sure, whatcha need?" Eiji asked nervously, exchanging similarly nervous glances with the other three.

As it turned out, their fears of handling raw meat were unwarranted. Minako handled the meat, Eiji and Kyo kneaded the now-ready noodle dough, Miki and Midori chopped up the vegetables and Brea kept watch over the broth.

Suddenly, the home ec door was opened and a couple of second year students popped in. "Hey Setamagi, you could've told us you were having a meeting," said the teal haired student of the two.

"Yeah, we'd like to learn how to cook now," added the brunette.

Minako sighed. "Does everybody have to call me by my family name? Senpai, please call me Minako."

"Well, we don't like being called 'senpai,' either. Then again, we never formally introduced ourselves. I'm Yuri Yamagishi," said the teal haired girl.

"And I'm Lillian Moriyama, Lily for short," said the brunette.

"Okay. You okay with cutting up meat?" They nodded, though with a bit of hesitation. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Just grab an apron and a knife, and I'll show you the ropes."

"Sure," they responded.

Minako was glad to have the extra hands as she could slowly but expertly watched and taught everybody how to do each assigned task, and 'with all their fingers attached," as Eiji put it. She really enjoyed teaching everybody how to cook and wondered if she should have cooking classes when she inherited the Amagi Inn.

After every task was done, the vegetables and meat were put in the broth pot, while Minako cut up the noodle dough. It was then that Yuri asked, "How long have you been cooking? I mean, you even cut fresh meat and make your own ramen noodles… WHOA!"

"I've been doing this since I've been little," giggled the auburn haired girl as she startled everyone by stretching the dough and whacking it on the tabletop. "It's been a part of Inaba's mandate to keep traditional skills alive while progress forward to the future. Me, I just loved to cook and helped out in my inn's kitchen whenever I could. Butchery did make me queasy for a good long while, but I eventually got over it." Of course, she did not mention that the real reason she learned to cook was in memory of Shinjiro.

"Did you learn to make ramen at home?" asked Lily.

"Yeah, but not at the inn. We also have a great ramen shop called Aiya! Chinese Diner and that's where I learned to make ramen. I told the owners to treat me like one of the boys and not the Amagi Inn heiress when I asked them to teach me. Believe me, it's taken me the last couple of years to get this good and it's not even as great at either Hagakure or Aiya."

"Hey, don't be modest," said Eiji. "It's still good regardless."

"Thanks. How's the broth coming along?"

Brea yipped energetically while Midori took a taste. "Tastes good. Not quite the Aragaki Bowl but almost there."

As Minako finished with the noodle making, she was about to go taste the broth herself when the home ec door was opened again. She looked up thinking it was Ms. Ite or another cooking club member; she scowled when she realized it was three male members of the kendo club.

"So this is where the famous kendo champion is, doing an obsolete skill from some rickety old inn in some backwards countryside town. Haven't you heard of food replicators?" said the tallest of the bunch at 178cm. He was the same dark shaded, shorthaired male student she had seen on the first day of school and the main antagonize for her to join the kendo club.

"Samuel Hayase, what are you doing here?" Miki said with a bit of annoyance in her tone.

"Just curious why Minako here isn't in the kendo club."

"One, I never gave you the permission to use my given name. Secondly, I've told you a thousand times NO. Don't you know what that means? Didn't Ms. Ite give a stern warning about harassment or are you deaf?" Minako said vehemently.

"Not until you join the so I can beat you."

"Yeah, like that will ever happen," she nearly yelled before turning his back to him and focused on the noodles she just put into the pot of now-boiling broth. The guy was rubbing him the wrong way and Brea, who had been tending to that pot the whole time, seemed like she wanted to hiss and possibly pounce at him too. It was a very stark contrast to what Minato told her of his possible ancestor, Mamoru.

Kyo then spoke up, "Hayase, you really should leave."

Hayase walked closer to that same stove, while his cohorts stood to the side. "I will but at least you can at least let us taste some of that food you're cooking."

"I'm only cooking for my friends, not jerkasses," Minako retorted, not even bothering to look at him.

"Really, you think I'm a jerkass? Well you ain't cooking for anybody!" He shouted before he and his cronies took all the pots and dumped them over the floor. They ran out the room swiftly before anybody could retaliate.

Despite the surprise, Minako dodged the boiling broth from the pot. She was about to swear at them until Brea shrieked. The little fox was running in circles over the countertop in extreme pain as some of that broth splashed onto her tail.

"Brea!" the Amagi Inn heiress yelled as she quickly tiptoed over the broth to her friend's aid. She grabbed the little fox, brought her to a sink and doused her tail with cold water. It must have stung really badly as the fox wiggled violently in the girl's arms.

While this was happening, Miki yelled at the kendo club members, "HAYASE! Get back here!" Kyo and Eiji ran out after them.

Midori ran up to Brea to pet her and ease her pain. "There, there, Brea." The little fox rubbed her head on Midori's hand affectionately, but the pain was very evident on her face.

Lily meanwhile got an ice pack from a replicator and brought it to them. "We need to get her to a vet."

"And get this place cleaned up," lamented Yuri. "Those bastards wasted a lot of good food, a lot of hard work and hurt Brea."

"I'll report him to Ms. Ite. He's gonna pay this," Miki vowed.

"I'd rather just kick his ass," Eiji angrily stated as he and Kyo re-entered the room. The latter nodded in agreement. "Those buffoons are really gonna get it."

"Get in line," a very irate Minako said, still petting Brea. "Anybody know when's the next kendo club practice?"

"Tomorrow. Fencing and kendo alternate days for using the practice arena," Kyo stated.

"Miki, I know I'm gonna get in trouble for this, but if Hayase wants a fight, I will make him wish he hadn't picked a fight with me!" Her friends cringed at the tone of voice, the bright apple red colour on her face and the steam coming out of her ears; they probably thought some monster had been released.

Brea and her Personae knew better though and shuddered even more. They knew that anybody who disparaged her family, her friends, the Inn and especially Shinjiro were in for one very rude awakening.

* * *

The next day, kendo club were where Kyo said they would be, members adorned in kendo practice armor doing routines at the practice arena, while club advisor and second year history teacher Mr. Ono wore a samurai helmet like his ancestor. Hayase, however, was doing his own thing without his helmet, trying to be high and mighty. At least that was what Minako thought as she peered into the room. After a few more minutes of spying, she, Miki and Kyo eventually entered the room.

Hayase was the first to notice and grinned. "So Setamagi, you gonna join the kendo club? Finally ready to lose?"

Minako returned that grin with a determined stare. "No, I'm just her to kick your butt. You want a fight? You got one!"

Hayase's cocky grin widened. "Oh really? Go get suited up then."

"I don't even need practise armor 'cause you're not gonna hit me. Ever!" Mr. Ono was about to protest, but she smiled evilly and added, "But since you're gonna whine about a speed advantage when I beat your ass, I'll oblige your request."

Hayase laughed even more, giving off a foul air of confidence. "Oh, this is gonna be fun."

As Mr. Ono re-iterated the rules of kendo (and relating it to something from the Sengoku Era, just like her ancestor), Minako got dressed in practice armor, not particularly caring if anybody watched that she did and if anybody cared that her school skirt lay over top the pants. Despite her anger, she remained as calm as possible, using a few breathing techniques to ease her.

Finally, she and Hayase took to the combat circle and bowed. Hayase held his kendo stick in a standard two-handed grip angled forward. Minako held hers one handed with her right hand away from her opponent and her left hand raised up in a blocking stance, similar to the one handed stance her brother used long ago.

The arrogant boy smirked once again. "You really think you can handle all my attacks with one hand?"

"I only need one hand to beat you," the Amagi Inn heiress confidently responded.

Hayase attacked first with a forward vertical slash. Minako countered with a sideways clockwise parry and then tripped him up with her left foot. He quickly got up, his body language conveying anger and annoyance. "Hey, that's against the rules!"

"Ah so you know the rules. Didn't think you did," she snarked. "Though you might want to clean your ears. I said _fight_, not _match_. But since you want a match, I'll give you one!"

"She did say _fight_, Samuel," Mr. Ono said, making the boy emit a suppressed growl. "However Minako, since you now agree to making it a match, I will have to give a point to him." She just shrugged.

Hayase maintained his original sword stance, while Minako switched to a typical one-handed fencing stance, similar to the one Mitsuru utilized. As he raised his hands for another forward slash, she scored with a quick stab to his neck. After a reset, he slashed horizontally, but she parried and hit with a stab to his head, winning the first match.

Hayase started complaining about her improper stance; she countered by saying that he should learn more than kendo, which Mr. Ono agreed with. Regardless, she changed her stance to the same as his. The results did not change as her quickness and technique outdid his brute power.

After complaining about her defensive style, she went on the offensive and completely overwhelmed him with yet another match win. As she kept switching between stances such as a baseball bat grip and an iaido grip, he became increasingly frustrated, as he could not adapt to the changing tactics. It was very evident that the increasing praise of her and increasing chiding of him from the kendo club advisor was further bruising both his ego and his body.

After losing ten straight matches, he lost his cool completely and shouted, "That's it! You want a fight? Let's fight!"

Hayase started to slash angrily and wildly at Minako, who easily parried each slash. Then he started mixing punched and kicks into the fray, which she also easily blocked. Another forward slash was countered with a clockwise sideways parry, followed by a left shin kick to his right knee and finished with a spinning back fist with the butt end of her kendo stick to the back of his head. The counterattack made him stagger forward a bit, but he steadied himself and spun on his right heel for a diagonal upward slash. She backed away to avoid that slash, then ducked a counter-clockwise horizontal slash before landing a hard roundhouse spin kick to his liver area that made him keel over on all fours. The blow must have looked and sounded incredibly painful based on the reactions of their audience, the loud smacking sound the kick made and Hayase's groaning. Minako backed away and let her guard down.

Mr. Ono stepped in and said, "Alright, Samuel that's enough."

"No, it's not over! Not until I beat her!" shouted Hayase, still facing the ground.

"Why do you want me to join the kendo club so bad so you could beat me?" asked Minako. "What did I ever do to you?"

He turned towards, his body trembling in intense anger. "I'm defending my family honor! There's no way some little country girl could beat my older brother in a kendo match without cheating in some way. I'm gonna beat you to regain that honor!"

A realization started to dawn on her. "Wait, who's your brother?"

"You bitch! You forgot his name? It's Darien Hayase!"

Minako's eyes widened at that answer. She always wondered why he looked so familiar if he was the younger brother of her rivals in kendo. She remember her first match with the older Hayase in 2372. However, this revelation just made her angrier. "This is your idea of honorable, harassing someone into a fight? I know your brother would never approve."

"You don't know nothing!" Hayase shouted before quickly rising up and slashing at her again.

The attack completely surprised her in its ferocity and subsequently smacked her kendo stick out of her hands. She then had to dodge swiftly out of range of his kendo stick, which unfortunately forced her away from her dropped weapon. Miki was about to run and get it for her since she was closest, but Minako waved her off and took up a karate stance instead.

Hayase cocked his head curiously and laughed. "You really think you can beat me unarmed?"

"I know I can," she said in a cool, determined voice.

He stepped forward with a counter-clockwise horizontal slash. She block it by spinning with the slash, grabbing his wrists with her right hand to slow it down, and finishing with a back left elbow to the back of his head. She knew that the blow was most likely blunted by his helmet, but it also made his helmet turn around his head and blind him.

Hayase slashed wildly and angrily as he tried to fix his helmet. Minako ducked and weaved passed them and started pummeling his body with hard punches. She finished with a knee to his gut that left him winded and keeled over again.

She stepped back and took off her helmet. "Hayase, please stay down. I don't want to hurt you anymore than I have." She did want to beat him; she did not want to completely humiliate him.

Mr. Ono spoke up, "I agree. There's nothing wrong about conceding defeat."

That just enraged Hayase further. He violently took off her helmet and threw it at her, which would have hit her had she not duck at the very last second.

"I will not lose!" he yelled before running to slash her again. He started with another forward vertical slash, which she simultaneously sidestepped left and applied a left palm strike to his right cheek. Unphased, he continued with a clockwise horizontal slash. She turned with the slash, grabbed his wrists and followed up with a spinning back elbow to his back. Again, he staggered forward a bit, repositioned himself and turned counter-clockwise for another slash. As he was about to face her, she kicked his kendo stick out of his hands and followed up with a hard sidekick to his chest, pushing him back half a metre.

Roaring angrily, he took up a pseudo-boxing stance and fired a few wild jabs at her, which she easily danced and bobbed gracefully to avoid. He then telegraphed an overheard right, she turned into, pivoted off her left foot and grabbed his right and use the momentum to throw him over her shoulder. He landed on his back with a loud thud.

Hayase rolled on his stomach with a groan, before his eyes noticed that he was close to one of the dropped kendo sticks. He tried to dive for it, but received from Minako a left kick that broke his nose and a right uppercut that bruised his left eye and made him roll away from her another half metre. She kicked the stick towards the wall so he would not try for it again.

As he rose, Hayase noticed the blood dripping out of his face and looked utterly shocked. He could not believe that he was getting beaten by the same girl he vowed to beat.

"Please yield," Minako pleaded. "Your stubborn pride won't get you anywhere."

Enraged further, Hayase ran at her, arms wide and ready to grab her. Knowing that a bear hug would hurt like hell, she waited for him to close the distance before grabbing his armor with both hands, rolling on her back, planting her foot in his gut and pushing off with said foot to send him flying in the air and right into a kendo stick rack.

Minako performed a kip up to get back on her feet. Thinking that the fight was finally over (and with that loud a crash, anybody would have thought so), she was about to walk towards the wall to take off her armor. However, noise came from the broken rack told her otherwise. She turned around to see Hayase staggering up to his feet. A couple of kendo club members tried to stop him but he shrugged them off violently.

As he raised his arms drunkenly in another boxing stance, he made a "come here" gesture with his fingers. Minako almost fell for it until she noticed his eyes shift left and right, and his head make the slightest of nods. She was not worried nor looked it if the sounds of kendo stick blows and male grunts coupled with Hayase's shocked face proved that. She had a feeling that his cronies would try to interfere and asked Miki and Kyo to watch her back. She looked peripherally to see that they were standing with kendo sticks in hand over Hayase's prone and hurting friends.

It was then that she decided that he was going down hard for all his hypocrisy about honor. She closed the gap quickly, blocked an incoming right hand with her left forearm and answered back with a left jab that bruised his right eye. She followed up with right cross, spun with it and finished with a jumping spinning uppercut, breaking his jaw and knocking him down to the mat once again.

After landing in a crouch with her back towards him, she stood up and took a few deep breaths. She was about to make her way for the door again until a tug on one of her pant legs prevented her from doing so. She just closed her eyes and waited.

As Hayase's hands slowly crept up her legs, Minako reflected upon what just transpired. While she knew in her mind that she fought him to shut him up and defend the honor of her family and her town, she knew in her heart that she was just as dishonorable as he was by wanting pure spiteful revenge by breaking him down to pieces. It made her shudder how much she had changed from the eternally cheerful girl with a bright smile that parted clouds to what she had become today.

Once she felt one of Hayase's hands reach her shoulders, she swiftly spin around and smashed the left side of his temple with a very hard and very loud right cross. This time, he stayed down for the count. She started at the bloody mess that he was for about half a minute, breathing very heavily.

She turned to face Mr. Ono and bowed respectfully; he returned the gesture with a brief nod and then tasked the other kendo club members to help Hayase to the infirmary. She then turned around the door and started walking, stripping her kendo armor along the way and ignoring the bustling sounds behind her.

As Minako walked towards then, it only took a glance and a nod for Kyo and Miki to understand that she did not want to talk now and just wanted to leave school immediately. They quietly led her out, stopping any gawkers from asking questions along the way and met their awaiting friends. They too noticed the serious look on her face and followed their senpais' lead. Nobody needed to speak though; they all had a feeling that the Amagi Inn heiress was going to be expelled from Gekkoukan. Their turmoil was nowhere as painful as hers was, though.

_Igor was right,_ she thought. _There is only one shadow I'm fighting. My own…_ She held back her tears at this realization.

* * *

_References:_

_The third week of April being a club recruitment week is a reference to a mid 90's dating sim called **Season of the Sakura**. In that game, the main character has a natural ability to take up a sport and excel in it immediately, even without any practice or knowledge of it beforehand. Obviously, that made him a target of everybody during club recruitment week.  
_

_The Hayase brothers' names are based on Sailor Moon. Their ancestor's name is Mamoru, real name of Tuxedo Kamen/Mask. His English name is Darien. A possible nickname for Samuel would be Sammy, Usagi/Serena's brother's English name. _

_Anybody who knows both the traditional and the most common translations for 'yuri' probably can guess what my plan is for Fuuka and Natsuki's descendants. This is a dual reference. The first being another reference to __**Lady Starwing's 'Persona: Guiding Light.'**__ The other is actually from __**Star Trek**__, which for a progressive series as it was, never explored these kinds of relationships. However, there was one episode of The Next Generation where guest star Whoopi Goldberg fought to change a line about romantic relationships from a gender-specific "When a man and a woman are in love" to a gender-neutral "When two people are in love," stating the show is and thus the 24__th__ century would be beyond that. I'm wondering if that's true so I'll try to explore that a bit, though I hope I don't suffer that Chris Carter Effect in the process (see TVTropes for that one)._

_The latter half of the fight was inspired by (read: stolen from) a different sci-fi fandom this time around. In this case, it was from the __**Star Wars **__novel,__** I, Jedi.**__ There, the smaller, more skilled main character also beat up a larger, stuck up braggart._

_Afterthoughts:_

_I don't know why, but I felt like the fight I wrote sounds very bland, despite the amount of description I used. Any suggestions on how to improve?_

_Not much else I can say. See you next chapter._


	11. Chapter 11: Golden Week Hijinx part 1

_For Persona related info: __**megamitensei [dot] wikia [dot] com/wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: __**memory-alpha [dot] org/wiki/Portal:Main**_

_For a possible year 2378 calendar: __**timeanddate [dot] com/calendar/?year=2378&country=26**_

_Hey everyone, how's it going?_

To alleviate any fears, while I do just write on the fly (mostly on my lunch break at work), I do have a plot in mind and a few chapters lined, including the final few chapters and the epilogue.

_You might notice that there is a new link up top. That's a possible year 2378 calendar that I will be using the rest of the way. Please refer to it if I forget a date here or there._

_I also fixed an error in the last chapter. I intended for Miki and Kyo to support Minako in the last scene, but I accidentally wrote Eiji instead and changed that accordingly. _

_Well, on to the hijinx._

* * *

Amidst the chillier than spring air and the bodies lying on the floor of the Amagi Inn hot springs, Minako could only ask herself one question:

_Why the hell does something stupid always happen to me in a hot springs?_

* * *

_Nearly a week earlier…_

"So what's everyone doing for Golden Week?" Eiji asked, stopping any chattering going on for everyone to mull over the question.

It was Shōwa Day, Saturday April 29 and a week after the debacle that was club recruitment week. Since it was a holiday, Minako invited her friends to her apartment to cook them the Aragaki Bowl as promised. She curiously looked up from her noodle making to listen in.

Midori, who had been practicing her flute a bit, was the first to speak. "Probably just practicing my music, as I am now. I rarely ever go out anywhere at this time."

"Same, but with tennis instead," said Eiji.

"Probably family business, knowing my luck," Miki lamented.

"You really need to tell your parents about getting some free time," Kyo said. "Then again, they'll probably want me to help as well."

"No plans for us," Lily said, speaking for Yuri as well.

"What about you, Minako?" asked Yuri.

The Amagi Inn heiress was hesitant to answer. She liked her Iwatodai friends well enough, but she was not sure about bringing them back to Inaba if they asked. She knew they and her Inaba friends would have no issues with bonding. She was worried about the hot springs and hoped to holy high hell that they would be fully booked that week.

If experience was any indication, both in her previous and current lives, hot springs and teenagers did not mix. Trouble and mischief always happened when the two were mixed together considering teenagers were still the same, immature beings as ever, even in an age where humans solely worked to better themselves and everyone else.

_Damn, I feel so old,_ she thought.

She then glared at a very nervous Ryoji as the memory of the Kyoto hot springs came to mind. In turn, Amaterasu glared at Izanagi since the same incident happened to the Inaba Investigation Team. However, the electric-type Persona retorted that Yukiko and the other girls were encroaching on Souji and the boys' allotted time. The fiery Persona said it was an honest mistake before realizing she was never supposed to reveal that fact and blushed furiously. Izanagi somehow conveyed a look of smug satisfaction through his masked face.

"Well?" Miki asked.

Before Minako could answer, her computer chimed. She sighed as she went to answer it, knowing who it was. "Uh, hi kaa-san."

"Minako, why haven't you been returning our calls? We've been worried sick about you when your principal called us," Kaa-san said. It was then that beyond her daughter's nervousness, she noticed the whole group of people in her apartment. "You could have mentioned that you had guests as well. Are they your new friends?"

"Yes, kaa-san." Minako proceeded to introduce everyone, whom said a brief hello, not sure what to make of her mother

"Well then, we'll talk when you return home next week. When will you be her?"

"The heiress inwardly sighed, wishing the topic was not being brought up now. "Um, Tuesday night."

"And what of your friends? What are their plans?" They looked at each other confused. "We'd like to meet them and maybe they'd like to take a little vacation in Inaba and enjoy the peaceful countryside."

"Um Kaa-san, isn't the Inn usually busy at this time?" asked Minako. "We probably don't have any rooms left."

"Actually, one of the larger bookings for next week just got cancelled so I can easily slot you all in. Just get your parents' permission and have them call; I'll do the rest."

"Yes Setamagi-sama," Miki said. "I'll make sure they do."

Kaa-san visibly cringed. "No need to be so formal. –San will just do fine; I'm not old enough for –sama yet."

"Yes, Setamagi-san."

"Minako, I'll call later for details. Have a good lunch." Everyone waved goodbye before she ended the call.

It was then that the giddiness building in Minako's friends just exploded. Eiji was the first one to speak. "Oh yeah, Golden Week's gonna be fun! Peaceful countryside, beautiful inn, hot springs and hot… OW!"

"Do NOT enough finish that sentence!" Midori said after stomping on the tennis player's foot, inciting a few laughs.

"Still, we haven't been to a hot springs before, real or holographic," said Lily.

"And its kinda exciting to be elsewhere from home actually," added Yuri.

"Nor have we been to the countryside," Miki said. "Or at least I haven't. You saw some nice rural areas on the Enterprise-D, right Kyo?" He just responded with a non-committal shrug, making his girlfriend frown.

"Anyway, I guess that settles it. Let me make a few calls," Miki finished before fiddling with Minako's computer console.

Meanwhile, Minako just kept cooking quietly amidst the energetic chatter. She just knew something stupid was going to happen next week.

* * *

Tuesday, May 2, 2378 Evening

Minako wanted to rest on the train ride returning home. While she was able to stave off the mayor from throwing a grand welcome (she had only been away a month!), she expected her Inaba friends to welcome her warmly (and painfully).

Unfortunately, Eiji's loud fidgeting coupled with Midori's even louder attempts to calm him down kept her awake the whole time. Not even Miki and Kyo could shut them up, adding more noise to the mix. She was glad that Yuri and Lily were quietly occupied playing with Brea.

_Still, it was nice to have friends to bring home_, she thought.

As the train came to a complete stop at Yasoinaba Station, everybody get ready to disembark. However, her friends were curious as to why the heiress held them back to peek outside the train doors. Turning back to say the coast was clear, they exited.

"Um what was that about?" asked Miki as they walked down the platform.

Minako, who was leading them, turned towards her senpai and answered, "I'm trying not to get… OOF! … bowled over…" To the shock of her friends, three blurs sped past and tackled her.

"Welcome back, onee-chan!" "We missed you!" "How's Iwatodai?"

"Um…" Miki said.

"Oh, are these your friends?" "Welcome to Inaba." "How's it going?"

"Taka, Kana, Tammy…" Minako groaned.

"Yes?" the trio said.

"Could you please get off me?"

"Ah gomen!" they shouted and jumped off.

"You three are getting too big for all this tackling…" Minako thought ruefully how she was able to getting hit during her match a couple of weeks, but could not avoid getting tackled. Her thoughts were interrupted when a strong hand grabbed one of her arms to pull her up… and made her crash right into a brick wall of a person, flattening her nose.

"Ow!" she moaned before looking up. "You've been working out a lot more, Hideo-kun."

"Hello to you too, Minako-chan," Hideo laughed. She was not amused, more so after a hard pat on the back…

"Hey Minako-chan," Miroku said. "How's it hanging?"

… Followed by a couple of hugs. "You better be doing well over there," said Toshiko.

"Of course, she is. She's our leader after all," laughed Rina.

Minako groaned at all the attention. She appreciated it, but she wished they were not so rough about showing it.

A loud yip then caught everyone's attention. "Brea?" yelled the trio as they went to pet her. She reciprocated by rubbing her face on them.

"Um…" Midori hummed, trying to get some attention.

A little flustered at his bad manners, Hideo turned to the group and bowed. "Sorry, we missed our leader a lot. I'm Hideo Tatsumi." He continued with introductions from there, mentioning their specialties and whatnot. Likewise, Miki introduced the Iwatodai group.

Walking down the train platform, everybody was chattering as if old friends from afar. Minako was relieved at that; she did not want to be the knot in the middle of a rope for tug o' war.

Rina then asked Miki and Kyo a question. "So you guys are into fencing and boxing? You should come by my family's gym and practice a bit. Oh, and Minako, we need to have a match, too."

"I don't know," said the Amagi Inn heiress. "I've had enough fighting for one month." That got the Inaba group's attention. "Later. I really don't want to talk about it." They nodded.

"Anyway," Miki said, "we'd be glad too." Kyo just raised an eyebrow at her, probably not liking being volunteered.

"So Tammy," said Yuri, "you like to bake?"

"Yup!" Tammy enthused. "Did Mina-chan let you try my pies?"

"Yes she did," Lily said before laughing further. "Actually, she allowed us to try and make them, but quickly changed her mind when we kept making mistakes and ruined a couple of batches. The replicated ones taste really good. Could you teach us?"

"Sure," the young baker said. Then she noticed the flute case Midori was carrying and asked, "You play?"

"The redhead responded, "Yes I do. I heard you have a beautiful singing voice so I thought we could play together." Tammy nodded ecstatically.

"Why tennis?" Miroku asked.

"Why soccer?" Eiji responded.

"I was good at kicking things. You?"

"I liked making a racket." The two laughed at the bad puns while Toshiko just groaned.

Off to the side, Minako noticed that Kyo quietly asked something of Hideo, apparently trying to hide it from Miki. Whatever he asked, she must have overheard based of the pink blush on her face.

"So where do you want to go first, onee-chan?" asked Taka.

"Inaba Square maybe? There are still a few places open," suggested Kana.

"Nah, not tonight. But I do want to go to the Samegawa," answered Minako.

"Oh, what for?"

"You'll see."

* * *

Despite Inaba's penchant for rainy weather at this time, it was a chilly evening with clear skies and a bright, beautiful crescent moon shining upon the town. The moon reflected off the Samegawa river, the current destination of Minako and her friends.

As they walked down to the dock, the topic of city life versus country life came up. The Iwatodai group liked the peacefulness and cleaner air, though the Inaba group lamented the lack of action, leading to much boredom. When asked which lifestyle she preferred, Minako sagely opined "a balance of both."

They were still chatting at the dock for a few minutes when Eiji spoke up. "Uh, why are we waiting here again? It's cold out here," he whined.

"Patience is a virtue," Minako simply said. She had been lying face down near the edge of the dock, twirling her finger on the surface of the river. Suddenly… "EEK!" she yelled as she jumped away from the dock, a hand underneath the opposite arm.

"Minako!" they all yelled and ran to her from their seats on the rocks near the river. She pointed with her free hand towards the water and they went up for closer look. However, when they got there, they were lightly splashed in the face with cold river water. At the sound of loud laughter, they all turned around to glared at sight of Minako rolling on the floor.

"Sorry," she said, trying to stifle the giggles, "I just wanted you all to meet another friend." She finally sat up and pointed towards the river again. Suffice it to say, they were wary for getting another splash of water in their faces. That was until a very loud splash came far from the dock that they finally turned around and stood agog at what they saw.

"Holy cow, look at the size of that fish!" yelled Midori.

"What is that thing and how is it so huge?" asked Eiji.

"THAT is the ginormous orange catfish known as the Guardian of the Samegawa," Rina answered. "I've heard about it, but I thought it was just an ancient myth."

"You're friends with the Guardian, onee-chan?" the twins asked their older sister.

"Yup, befriended it last summer," Minako said.

"Has anybody ever caught it?" Yuri asked.

"Maybe. There's an old story from a few centuries ago of an elderly fisherman challenging Minako's ancestor, Souji Seta, to catch it," Hideo said. "He apparently succeeded, but after showing the old fisherman the fish, he decided to let the Guardian back into the river."

"I guess that's why it likes you, Mina-chan," said Lily.

"Well, if she befriended a fox, it wouldn't surprise me that she could befriend a fish," added Miki.

The Guardian swam close to the dock, allowing everyone to pet it before swimming back out to jump and dive back into the river.

"Bye," they all shouted to their new friend.

"I think we've had our fun," Kyo said, "but it's getting colder so let's go."

"Kyo, you're supposed to be on vacation," warned Miki, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's waist.

"Whatever." Despite his response, his facial features softened at her touch.

As they left the Samegawa floodplain, Minako noticed that the rest of the couples, implied or otherwise, followed Miki and Kyo's lead though in their own little spaces. Considering the moonlight shining upon them, it did not surprise her. She just wished that Shinjiro was here with her to do the same. Her Personae decided to take that role instead and comfort her.

* * *

After parting with Brea at Tatsuhime Shrine and watching the warm welcome she received from the rest of her family, the whole group headed for the Amagi Inn.

"I'm a little surprised that kaa-san was able to get you guys rooms as well," Minako said to her Inaba friends. "Was the cancellation that big?"

"Yes, onee-chan, kaa-san said the booking had more than 10 guests," said Taka.

"Must be a cancelled company holiday," Miki opined.

"Maybe one from the Kirijo Group?" asked Kyo.

"I doubt it. I would have heard about it if that were the case."

"Anyway, here we are, the Amagi Inn," said Minako.

The Iwatodai group were visibly impressed with a few oohs, aahs, and whistles thrown in. Eiji was the first to speak. "This is your home? I feel like I'm entering a castle or temple from the past, even more so than Naganaki Shrine."

"A beautiful one at that," Midori added. "The wood looks real and very old, not some cheap replicated knockoff."

"That's because it is. Sure, we have the typical utilities and amenities from our age…," began Taka.

"… But we retained the décor of yore. Progressive and traditional, like the rest of Inaba," finished Kana.

Minako then opened the front door and was treated to a big surprise. "Welcome home, Minako-chan," her parents and a large portion of the inn staff yelled.

"Thanks everyone," Minako said, "but it's only been a month." She still appreciated the sentiment.

"Nonsense! The little mistress should always be greeted warmly when she comes back home," laughed the head maid, hugging her.

Her parents then came up and hugged her as well. "We've missed you, Minako-chan," said tou-san.

"I missed you all too," she responded.

"We'll talk later. Now, let's get your friends settled," kaa-san said.

With that, the maids took everybody's bags and directed everyone to their rooms. Much to Minako's chagrin, they told the group the more embarrassing anecdotes of her life at the inn. Arriving at their rooms, they mentioned what time dinner was before leaving to their duties.

"Oh wow, this room is huge!" Lily exclaimed.

"Actually, it's made up of two smaller rooms with the side wall retracted," Taka explained. "With a big group such as ours, it's something we utilize if the group wants to sleep together."

"Still, even one small room is pretty big," said Yuri.

"Well, these were two of the bigger suites," Kana said.

"Anyway, we'll close up the walls for bedtime," Minako said with a smirk. "I think Rina-chan, Hideo-kun, Midori-kun and Eiji-kun should be one room, while the senpais are in the other. Tammy, I assume you'll be sleeping with the twins."

The young baker nodded, while the four high school freshmen fumed. Rina then spoke up, "Don't you mean boys on one side and girls on the other?"

"No, I mean 'four people who are resistant to being coupled' and 'the two official couples.'" As usual, all four of them blushed and shook their head at that.

"Though I worry what Miki-senpai, Yuri-senpai and Lily-senpai will do to Kyo-senpai." The three older girls giggled, while Kyo just shrugged.

"Anyway, you guys get settled while Taka, Kana and I go help out with dinner."

* * *

"I thought you were helping with dinner?" Midori asked.

"So did I, but everybody shooed me away," said Minako.

"The little mistress shouldn't be working when on vacation with friends visiting," said a maid who was setting up their table.

"And what if I want to show them how I work?" she whined.

"Then we'll shackle you to the floor!" the maid responded with a giggle, making the heiress stick out her tongue. "Anyway, there's more time for that tomorrow. Your mother expressly forbid you from working tonight, and wanted you and your friends to rest first." The maid then went back to the kitchen.

"What's she talking about?" Yuri asked.

"On special occasions, we perform traditional dances and music, kinda like geishas in teahouses of yore."

"Oh, nice," Lily said.

"Yeah, it is," Rina said. "I always impressed whenever they perform."

A loud yelp pierced the air. "Ow, what was that for?" Eiji yelled at Midori, who pinched him. "I didn't say anything!"

"Yeah, but you were thinking it," Midori retorted.

Kyo just sighed and dope slapped the both of them. "How many times am I gonna do that this week?"

"Oh, let them have their fun, Kyo-kun," Miki said. The others just laughed.

By then, the maids, Taka, Kana and their parents brought out their dinner. To say the Iwatodai group were awed by their food would be an understatement. It consisted of teriyaki Inaba trout, seaweed salad, vegetable chow mein, kim chee, beef bulgogi and california maki sushi rolls.

"I see where your cooking skills come from," said Yuri, sniffing at the wonderful aroma.

"Yeah, this is spectacular," added Lily. "Can we learn from your chefs how to cook tomorrow?"

"I'll ask them, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem," said Minako, "provided that you don't burn the place down or poison everybody."

"H-h-hey!" stuttered Yuri. "It was just one time."

"Be glad that the fire extinguishing systems went off when you did cook up a fire," Miki said.

"And one time? You're lucky that nobody got seriously sick the next outing," chided Kyo. "Ms. Manisa and Ms. Ite threw a fit and almost cancelled cooking club because of those incidents." Yuri and Lily looked very embarrassed at those reminders.

One of the chefs apparently overheard and walked up with a tray of food. "Well, we'll have to whip you two into shape. You can help us with breakfast and lunch tomorrow morning."

"And I'll help with the baking," said Tammy.

"Oh thank you," both girls said, bowing. "We promise not to disappoint."

"Good because as Minako will attest, I am a very hard taskmaster and if you do mess up, I will have you clean the whole inn with the cleaning staff." Everybody laughed at the aghast looks on their faces.

Dinner started off as an enjoyable affair. The Iwatodai group loved the food and wished there was a restaurant with this great cooking back in their home. Everyone from Inaba liked their stories of their city and Port Island, and hoped to visit there soon.

It was at this point that Rina asked the question that Minako was dreading. "So what was it about sparring that you didn't want to talk about?"

"And on that note, why were you almost expelled from school for fighting?" added Kaa-san.

The Inaba group were stunned at that revelation. "What? Onee-chan, you got into a fight?" asked Kana.

"And you were almost expelled?" Hideo asked, completely shocked.

The heiress stiffened visibly and just looked down silently, not wanting to broach that topic.

"You never told any of them?" asked Eiji. She shook her head.

"Was it that bad?" Tammy asked. She nodded.

"I'll explain," said Miki, realizing her underclassman would not speak up. In a commanding tone, she told them what happened two weeks ago. She mentioned every detail from the harassment to the creation of the cooking club to the fight. Everyone had varying looks of shock on their face once the story was finished.

Miroku was the first to speak, though it was more like a stutter. "Minako-chan, I… umm…" Toshiko also had a concerned look on her face.

Minako simply said, "It's alright, Miro, Tosh. I know."

Hideo then said, "If you thought we would think less of you, don't. We know how much family means to you."

"If anything, you should be proud that you tried to show restraint and mercy to Hayase," added Rina. "I don't think I could have done the same for what he did."

"Is that why weren't you expelled, because you showed mercy?" asked Taka.

"And what happened to that Samuel Hayase guy?" Kana added.

Surprisingly, Minako spoke up this time around.

* * *

_Saturday April, 21, 2378_

"_Be glad that broken bones are easily mendable nowadays. However, that concussion you gave him will NOT be taken lightly. Head injuries are never a laughing matter. I should expel you from this school for this beatdown you administered," Ms. Manisa sternly warned._

_At the end of the day, Minako was summoned the office and fully expected to return to Inaba in shame after a harsh punishment. She had been standing silently, but a puzzled look formed on her face at what her principal just said. "You're not going to expel me?"_

"_No, I'm not. You have a few things going for you, Setamagi. One, Hayase has a track record for being rude and obnoxious towards students not joining kendo club and his harassment of you was just the tip of the iceberg. Two, he disparaged you, your family, and your hometown; I despise personal attacks like that. Three, he ruined school equipment and hurt one of your friends for that stunt he pulls in the home ec room. Finally and most importantly, one of his family members spoke on your behalf and told me not to expel you, in spite of what other relatives wanted. He had a very convincing argument._

"_But that does not you will not be punished. I will not suspend you, but I will be cancelling your cooking club effective immediately and you will not be able to form any other club of your own nor join any others besides the tennis club. Your parents will also be informed of this incident. Dismissed."_

_Minako turned around to head to the door, feeling like a nervous wreck. As she was about to open it, Ms. Manisa spoke again, but in a softer tone. "Minako, you're a good girl with high marks and a bright future. I have high expectations of you. Don't disappoint me again."_

"I won't," she promised before finally leaving.

_Minako's friends were waiting for her when she exited the office. Eiji was the first to speak up. "So how did it go?"_

"_Well I'm not expelled nor suspended so that's a good thing," she responded. "Unfortunately, cooking club has been cancelled and I can't form any more clubs."_

"_Aw, I really wanted to learn how to cook," Yuri said. Lily nodded as well._

"_And I really wanted to teach it too."_

_Miki had a thoughtful look on her face though. "Setamagi-chan, what were Ms. Manisa's exact words?"_

_Minako eyed her curiously before realizing what she meant. "She said 'I will be cancelling _your_ cooking club.' She emphasized the 'your' so…"_

_Kyo then spoke, "Somebody else could re-start the cooking club. Good catch, Miki."_

_Lillian asked, "So me and Yuri can start the cooking club…"_

"_While Minako acts as a shadow advisor," concluded Miki._

"_Sounds like a plan," said Midori. "Better hop to it and look for Ms. Ite, senpais."_

"_Will do," Yuri cheerfully said as she and Lily ran to find the 2__nd__ year history teacher. _

_Minako and the rest of her friends decided to go home instead. On the way out, they met with an unwelcome face holding a kendo stick._

"_Well, where's the little cheater going to? I want that fair match," Hayase angrily slurred._

"_Back off, Hayase," Kyo said, standing in front of him. "You don't want to get hurt again."_

"_So the little cheater needs a bodyguard now. Typical."_

"_Shut your trap!" Eiji shouted, standing beside Kyo. "She doesn't need our help kicking your butt again."_

_Before things came to blows, another voice shouted towards them, which made Hayase freeze. "Samuel Hayase, you will stop this instant!" Minako looked and saw a familiar face to that voice. He was six foot tall with a fit build and short black hair._

"_Darien-senpai, what are you doing here?" Miki asked._

"_Looking for my wayward brother to return him home."_

"_But onii-san…"_

"_Don't 'onii-san' me, Sammy!" the older Hayase shouted. "You're lucky you've only been suspended for a week instead of being expelled for all the damage you've done for one week. Now, go home and rest that head of yours." The younger Hayase sneered at Minako before finally leaving the school grounds._

_The older Hayase looked towards Minako with a kindly smile before speaking. "It's been a long time, Setamagi-san."_

"_Yes, it has, Hayase-san," she replied. _

"_You two know each other?" asked Midori._

"_We've fought in many kendo tournaments, usually with her on the winning end," Darien answered._

"_Hey, you've beaten me, too!" Minako respectfully retorted._

"_Not as many times as you've beaten me and I was lucky all those times."_

"_So was I."_

"_Oh, stop being so modest, Setamagi-san. Anyway I would like to apologize for my brother's behaviour."_

"_You're not your brother's keeper; you don't have to apologize for him."_

"_No, but I wish I taught him better. He always had too much pride in our family name and never could believe that a younger girl such as you could beat a bigger, stronger person like me. It ate at him too much and strove to become stronger so he could beat you. But he never learned about speed and technique, and became increasingly agitated at his lack of progress."_

"_I understand."_

"_I'm gonna try again to talk to him and listen to reason. Maybe you can help him out. Yes, I know you won't join the kendo team; just help him with his issues."_

"_If he's willing to listen, I'll try."_

"_That's all I ask. I see you around, everyone." Darien then turned to leave._

* * *

After finishing the story, Minako turned her towards Taka, Kana and Tammy and said, "I want to make this very clear; fighting should never be an answer to anything. Please don't do what I just did, okay?"

"Yes onee-chan," the trio said.

"Come now," Tou-san said, "it's Golden Week! We should be enjoying ourselves. No more sad stories."

And from the end of dinner to bedtime, the teenagers did just that, telling each other happier and funnier stories to playing various card games.

By the time Minako, returned to her room, she had forgotten all her worries for the last couple of weeks and went to bed soundly asleep.

* * *

_References:_

_Calling Izanagi an electric-type Persona was an obvious shout out to the Pokemon series._

_Afterthoughts:_

_The flashback to Ms. Manisa and the Hayase brothers was actually supposed to end the last chapter, but I changed that when the word count for that chapter got too high. I'm glad I did that because the last chapter's ending is much better without the scene._

_Not much else I need to add. See you next chapter._


	12. Chapter 12: Golden Week Hijinx part 2

_For Persona related info: __** wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: __** /wiki/Portal:Main**_

_For a possible year 2378 calendar: __** /calendar/?year=2378&country=26**_

_Hey everyone, how's it going?_

Between work, playing and conquering Final Fantasy XIII-2, and planning to cosplay as Souji/Yu and Junpei for Anime North 2012, I completely forgot that my story's one year anniversary passed a couple of weeks ago. So many distractions…

_Anyway, back to the hijinx._

* * *

Wednesday, May 3, 2378

Before everyone else woke up, Minako had an early and quick breakfast, and left a message to meet her at Inaba Hill. Considering the spectacular view of the whole town it provided, the top of the hill was her favorite workout spot and a popular tourist attraction. Therefore, it did not surprise her that somebody was already there before her.

There was a tall, Caucasian man with short, dark brown hair taking photos and videos of the area with a holocamera. Though he looked to be in his late 30's to mid-40's, she had to admit he was very handsome.

Leaving the man to his device, she started to practice a little tai chi. The semi-mountain air with that martial art always eased and relaxed her mind, something she really needed after the last couple of weeks.

Her Personae decided to do the same and mimic her movements. She wondered how Izanagi was able to balance himself considering his 'feet' were really knife blades, making him fume while the others laughed.

As engrossed as Minako was with tai chi, the man was too engrossed in his holophotography. Thus, it was not too surprised that her foot nearly collided with the man's face and camera. She was able to stop her kick at the last moment, but he was so spooked that he fell on his behind.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" she said to the man, lending a hand to pick him up.

"That's okay," he answered, graciously accepting the hand. After he got up, he her curiously before the proverbial light bulb went off in his head. "Ah, are you Minako Setamagi, heiress of the Amagi Inn and martial artist?"

"Yes, that's me," she answered, scratching her head in embarrassment.

"I'm Justin Durant, holonovelist."

"Oh, that's why you looked familiar. I've read a few of your novels; really good stuff."

"Why, thank you. I've watched a few of your matches and I'm just blown away at how skilled you are winning all those championships and at such a young age."

"Thanks." Taking a seat on the nearby picnic bench, Minako then asked, "So what brings you to Inaba, Mr. Durant?"

"Your famous hot springs, of course. I needed a vacation. That and a little research."

"Research?"

"Yeah, the vistas here are beautiful and perfect for one of my next novels."

Her face soured. "Let me guess, it's about a couple of grisly murders where the bodies were hung on the top of telephone poles."

"Well, yes. I know it's still a sensitive topic, but I was hoping to update it for our time."

"It's okay. We've kinda gotten used to it."

"Well, I'll get back to my research. Have a good day, Miss Setamagi," Mr. Durant said, extending his hand.

"Have a good day yourself, Mr. Durant," Minako responded, accepting the handshake.

As Mr. Durant descended the hill, Minako went back to her tai chi. For another half hour, she went through the motions of the various forms, punches and kicks, and was thoroughly, though unusually tired by the end of it. She found it odd as she could usually go for another hour and a half, but just summed it up being out of practice. Deciding that falling on her face would not be a good idea, she lied down on the picnic bench with her music player on, listening to various Risette tracks.

"It's good to be home," Amaterasu said.

"And a good day for a workout," added Izanagi.

"It would be nice to remain here," said Eurydice.

"You know we can't do that yet; not until we get what we came for in Iwatodai," said Ryoji.

"Still, I am getting a little homesick."

"So am I, Eurydice," said Minako. "But like Ryoji said, we still gotta a job to do over there. None of us will feel complete until we know what happened to our old friends." Her Personae nodded.

Just then, they heard some shouting over the distance. "Onee-chan!" "Minako-chan!"

She stood up, looked around and saw her friends sans Tammy, Lily and Yuri running up the hill.

"Onee-chan, why did you leave so early?" asked Kana.

"Yeah, you missed the breakfast fun!" Eiji exclaimed.

"More like headache," Kyo groaned.

"Oh c'mon, Kyo-senpai. It was fun," Midori said.

"I don't know how you can all a rowdy meal fun."

"Kyo, relax a little please," Miki said pleadingly. He just shrugged.

"Well, we do like to encourage a fun time during group meals," Minako said. "It can get noisy, especially during dinnertime."

"And especially when we perform," said Taka.

"Speaking of, Midori-chan, maybe you can play your flute with us."

"Sure, I'd be glad, too," said Midori.

"Anyway, so where's Tammy, Yuri and Lily?" asked Minako.

Toshiko answered, "They're still at the Inn. Tammy's going teach them to bake, while the chefs teach them to cook."

"Or at least try to," said Miroku. "They made a mess with a couple of omelettes."

"Well, at least they're enthusiastic about it," opined Miki. "However, I think that's part of the problem."

"Anyway, onee-chan, why did you leave so early?" Kana asked again.

"Because I wanted to get in a little tai chi practice and it's so relaxing from up here," her elder sister answered.

It was then the Iwatodai group took note of the view from Inaba Hill and were quite awed at the sight. The Amagi Inn heiress wondered what they thought of the view compared to the rooftop at Gekkoukan or the monorail to Port Island, but did not bother to ask.

And she did not need to. "I see why you wanted us to meet here, Setamagi-chan," said Miki. "The view is absolutely gorgeous."

"Agreed. Yuri-senpai and Lily-senpai are missing out," added Midori.

"Well, there will plenty of time for that for them to see. Maybe we should come back here before we leave?" Eiji said.

"You actually had a good idea for once, Eiji," snarked Midori.

"I always have good ideas!"

"You mean dumb ones."

Sighing, Kyo stopped their latest argument with another pair of dope slaps, while the others just giggled.

"So where off to next," Hideo asked.

"How about the Satonaka Gym?" Rina suggested. "We could record a fencing demo?"

"I guess we could do that," Miki said. "I would to see where you and Setamagi-chan trained."

"Are you guys sure you wanna do that demo?" Minako asked. She did not want her friends to be considered hypocrites for showing kids from another town how to fence when she chose not to join another school's kendo club.

"It's okay, Minako-chan," her upperclassman responded. "Hanamura-san's mentioned that you don't have a fencing team, so you don't have to worry about the contradiction."

"That's true. Well, let's go then."

As they all descended the hill, Minako could only wonder why fighting was always on the agenda these days.

* * *

"That's your family's gym?" exclaimed Eiji. "It's huge!"

"I wouldn't call it my family's, but it is named after one of my ancestors," Rina said, as they walked into the gym.

"And it used to be just a simple dojo until the town expanded to include other facilities. That's why it looks more like a community centre than just a gym," added Hideo.

"Not to mention that they've thought about changing the name to Inaba Civic Centre, but it just felt wrong to change the name, Satonaka Gym," finished Toshiko.

"I see what you mean," said Miki. "I see a couple of basketball courts, tennis courts and skating rinks."

"And here are the actual dojo and fitness areas," said Rina.

When they entered the dojo, Minako was in for a surprise.

"Minako-sensei, welcome back!" shouted some younger students crowding around her.

"Thank you everyone," she said, a little embarrassed.

"Minako-sensei?" Midori asked curiously.

"Rina and I've been teaching the younger ones."

A little girl spoke, "Yeah, they learned everything very quickly, like… um… what was the word?"

"Prodigies?" Rina answered.

"Yeah, that's the word!"

"I'm impressed," said Eiji. "We knew you're good, Mina-chan, but being called sensei?"

"Yeah, I know," Minako said. "I'm still trying to get them to not call me that though."

"Minako-sensei, we always show respect to our elders," one of the boys said.

"I'm not that old though."

"Now, Minako-chan," chided an elderly male, "we don't want to have bad manners, do we?"

"Yes, sensei," she said, bowing respectfully.

All the teens took seats near a wall while the class resumed. They watched as they practiced various karate techniques, including blocks, throws and katas.

After the class finished, the sensei gestured towards Minako and company. "Class, as you already know, we've been graced with the presence of Minako-sensei's friends from another city. What you may not know is that two of them are martial artists as well. Miki Kirijo and Kyo Arisato are accomplished fencers from Gekkoukan High School and have volunteered to demonstrate their skills. Kirijo-san, Arisato-san, please come up."

Kyo grunted, making Miki poke him. "Now, now, Kyo," she said, "we agreed to do this for their class."

"Yes, Kirijo-sama," he replied sarcastically, taking a punch to his shoulder as retaliation.

The couple geared up in fencing attire, helmets and practice foils before walking to the centre of the floor. They then saluted each other before taking up typical one handed fencing stances; that being the sword hand (their right hands in this case) at lead and aimed forward and their left hands behind them and pointing upward.

They started with Miki firing off quick stabs while Kyo swatted them away. Then he slashed at her a few times while she parried and dodged. Kyo then changed his stance where his sword hand was behind him and his left hand was forward instead; his posture told Minako that he looked more comfortable like this. Meanwhile, Miki maintained the same fencing stance.

As the demo continued, it was looking a lot less one and more like two kids play fighting. Minako could tell by the flashy, ineffective moves and the laughs they both emitted that they had done this many times before and were just trying to entertain all the young students. They were certainly doing a good job of that, Minako thought; the demo reminded her of a few pirate films with all the swashbuckling and whatnot.

Towards the end, Miki fired off a series of three stabs, followed by a spinning back slash, then another series of stabs and ended with a left front kick. Kyo grunted as he was hard pressed, but able to parry and block all those lightning fast attacks. He then countered with a single hard stab, followed by a spinning back slash of his own and finished with a jumping downward slash. Miki herself groaned as she was equally challenged, but able to parry and dodge his powerful blows.

As they finished the demo with a flourish, the crowd rose to give them a standing applause. Minako, however, was not cheering like everyone else. Quietly reflecting on the end, she was very surprised that Kyo and Miki utilized the finishing moves that her brother and Mitsuru used a few centuries ago. She found that odd because as far as she knew, neither Arisato nor Kirijo were vaunted for being martial artists.

The heiress was stirred out of her thoughts when her sensei spoke up. "Thank you Kirijo-san and Arisato-san for the wonderful demonstration."

Suddenly, a set of boxing practice helmets and gloves were plopped down on Minako's lap. She did not have to guess whom they came from. "You sure about this, Rina-chan? I'm really not in the mood for a sparring match."

"Ah c'mon, we hadn't practiced in a couple of months. Besides, I bet all your students want to see another demo," Rina replied jovially.

"Yeah, please Minako-sensei?" one of the students pleaded.

The heiress looked at her students and saw all their beady little eyes staring at her. Inwardly sighing, she and they knew that she could not resist them. "Okay, if you insist," she replied as she put on the practice gear on her lap.

"Great!" Rina shouted as she donned her own set of boxing gear.

* * *

"I see why you didn't want to spar. When was the last time you practiced, onee-chan?" Taka said concernedly.

"Two weeks ago," Minako said, holding an ice pack over her bruised left eye. "I didn't even want to think about martial arts for a while."

"Yeah, you didn't seem that into it," Hideo added.

"And it would explain the lack of training videos as of late," added Kana.

"Still, for someone who hadn't practiced in a while, you still got some good hits in," opined Miki.

"I'll say," Rina said, massaging a sore hip.

"Maybe you two should go to a doctor," said Eiji.

"We will, once Tammy, Lily, and Yuri get here," said Minako.

"They are taking a little longer than the usual bento box prep time," Kana said.

"Maybe your head chef was true to his word?" pondered Midori.

"I'd say that's a good guess," said Toshiko. "Take a look over there." He pointed towards three girls walking up slowly. To Minako, they looked like zombies.

"Hey everyone," Lily groggily greeted.

"You guys look terrible," said Miroku.

"And feel it," answered Yuri.

"And I blame them two for it," Tammy fumed.

"We said we were sorry…"

"What happened?" asked Minako.

"Well, we thought we were doing well making miso soup and baking a basic apple pie," said Lily.

"But, well… we were… um… preoccupied… and… well… the soup overboiled and the pie burnt to a crisp…" added Yuri.

"AND almost caused a fire!" Tammy shouted. "Cooking requires a fully focused attention! Being frisky and inattentive does not help, especially when we had to clean up the mess and the whole kitchen!"

Yuri and Lily were completely shocked by the younger pre-teen, leading them to quickly and repeatedly bow to her. The other four of the Iwatodai group were stunned at her anger; on the other hand, Minako and the Inaba crew knew and felt Tammy's wrath at botching any type of baking and just laughed at the result.

"Anyway, what to do now?" asked Eiji.

"I don't know about you guys, but I worked up an appetite," Rina said. "How about some steaks?"

"Figures," Hideo said sarcastically, earning a playful jab to his shoulder.

"Yeah, no Foreign Queasine this time around," Kana said. "We eat there too much."

"C'mon, you know you like the live gagh," Taka teased, making his sister blow a raspberry at him.

"Well, we need to see Brea anyway, so let's go to the croquette shop or Aiya!," said Minako.

After a quick stop to the local doctor's office to heal Minako's and Rina's injuries, the group trekked towards the shopping district. Or at least they were going to until…

"Ah, Hideo-kun," a male voice called.

They turned around to see an older Japanese man with gray short hair walking to them. "Ah, Watahashi-sensei, how are you today?" said Hideo.

"I'm very fine, thank you. Enjoying Golden Week so far?"

"Yep. Just showing Setamagi-chan's friends from Iwatodai around Inaba."

Minako jabbed at his shoulder hard, making him wince. "You didn't have to say my name like that."

"Ah, Setamagi, I thought I recognized you. How goes everything in the big city?"

"It's been good so far. Met some great friends." She gestured towards said friends, who promptly said hello.

"Well, I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself there. But just because you are away from your parents and home, it doesn't give you the right to fool around. You better be behaving yourself, young lady."

"Yes, Watahashi-sensei."

"Anyway, Hideo-kun…"

"Now, Watahashi, these kids are on holiday," a female voice said suddenly. "Don't badger them about rules and discipline on their break."

Everyone looked towards the emanation of that voice, which was a young long blonde haired woman.

"Ms. Farrell, they are at that point in their lives where they need discipline to do well in life," Watahashi said angrily.

"Oh, c'mon, they're still kids. They should still have some freedom to do stuff."

"Not to the point of carelessness like you!"

"Better than your stuffiness!"

From that point, they bickered very loudly, the Inaba group instinctively grabbed the Iwatodai group and pulled the proverbial 'exit stage left.' After running a fair distance away and a little of time to catch their breaths, Miki spoke up.

"Who were those two?" she asked.

"Two teachers from Yasogami High, Yoshihiro Watahashi and Helen Farrell," Rina answered.

"Two of the most annoying teachers ever, I say," added Miroku. "They get into arguments almost every day and it's always about rules and discipline versus freedom."

"I'm surprised they're still employed at the same school," Kyo added wryly.

"Say what you want about them personally, they are great teachers professionally," said Toshiko.

"Which is why most everybody in town tolerates their bickering so much," finished Tammy.

"Anyway, let's just forget about them and go to the shrine," said Taka.

"Agreed," said Kana.

As they all walked towards the shopping district, Minako looked back in the distance towards the still arguing teachers. _Those two always leave a funny feeling_, she thought. She shook her head and turned around to follow her friends.

* * *

"I hope we brought enough food," Midori said.

"I hope we don't swarmed once we enter," Eiji added.

"We should be fine. We can always come back for more and Brea's family haven't swarmed us ever," said Tammy.

That was when said family decided to softly pounce on all of them. They were all pretty giddy at the free lunch, making all the humans laugh. Thus started the impromptu picnic at Tatsuhime Shrine. The shone down on the gilded gates, making the Iwatodai group awe at the sight.

After lunch, all the foxes save Brea played with everyone but Minako (Miki, as usual, had to pry Kyo to get into the fun). The heiress sat on the shrine steps while petting the discreetly talking to the little fox with the pink bandana.

"So," Minako said, "are you gonna stay here now that I'm not alone in Iwatodai?"

The young fox shook her head. "Nope, I'm staying with you for the long haul. My family understands my loyally to you." She then rubbed her face on her friend's. "I'm not leaving you ever."

"Thanks Brea." Minako smiled and kept petting her fox friend.

As she watched her friends still having fun, the heiress had to admit that she liked Golden Week so far. However, she still had some nagging feelings today, most of which were reserved for tonight's dinner and hot springs visit.

_I really hope everyone stays in line at the springs tonight,_ she thought.

* * *

_Afterthoughts:_

_No references this time around. I wonder if I made all my characters distinct from each other though. Maybe I should post a character sheet as an interlude._

_Not much else I need to add. See you next chapter._


	13. Chapter 13: Golden Week Hijinx part 3

_For Persona related info: __**megamitensei [dot] wikia [dot] com/wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: __**memory-alpha [dot] org/wiki/Portal:Main**_

_For a possible year 2378 calendar: __**timeanddate [dot] com/calendar/?year=2378&country=26**_

_Hey everyone, how's it going?_

Sorry about the lateness, I hit another roadblock in my writing that I just recently pulled out of. I didn't like writing this chapter for some reason as my thoughts kept going to later chapters. So I decided to write a little bit for those chapters to clear up the fog, so to speak.

_Other than that, I was busy cosplaying at Anime North the previous weekend (May 25-27) and playing Xenoblade Chronicles (highly recommended game)._

_I also did a minor edit for chapter 8. I just swapped the name of the Persona 4 vocalist, Shihoko Hirata, for Rise's. Basically, I consider the Persona 4 vocal tracks to be songs in Rise's return album.  
_

_Anyway, back to the hijinx._

* * *

"Ow!" Eiji yelled. "What was that for?"

"You're dreaming of geisha again!" shouted Midori.

SMACK! "You two better behave yourselves and be respectful during the performance," Kyo chided his underclassmen, who were rubbing their heads.

"Kyo…," Miki sighed.

"Did you two cook anything for tonight?" Miroku asked.

"Nope," Lily sighed, "I think Yuri and I are banned from the kitchen."

"Don't worry, senpai," Toshiko assured. "You'll get the hang of it."

"Thanks," replied Yuri.

Minako could only grin as she overheard the antics of her friends through the traditional wood and paper walls of the Amagi Inn main dining room. She felt uncharacteristically nervous about performing in front of her newest friends and Mr. Durant.

Clad in an orange yukata with white sakura blossoms and holding two fans, she looked at the eager smiling face of Kana, who was wearing a purple kimono with pink sakura blossoms and holding an umbrella. Their mother, on the other hand, wore a plain beige yukata to make sure that the focus would be on her daughters and held a thirteen-string koto.

While Tou-san asked for calm, Taka called for the three of them to enter the dining room. The audience oohed and applauded their appearance before settling down for the performance.

As Kaa-san strummed the koto, Minako began her fan dance. It was a slow dance, designed with elegance in mind and that was what she exuded with every movement. With swan-like grace, each arm swipe, each fan snap and each eyelash flutter mesmerized the crowd. By the end of it, she had them in the palm of her hands, clapping in a standing ovation.

Kana was up next and the tempo of her mother's koto playing sped up. In contrast to her older sister, her umbrella dance was designed to be fast, playful and fun. Her bright smile, frenetic pace and energetic umbrella twirls kept the crowd excited and wanted more. So when she finished her dance, there was a sigh of yearning with the round of applause.

However, music always slew savage beasts, and that was what Tammy and Midori aimed to do. With the redhead playing her flute, the young baker sang one of her ancestor's songs, Heaven. With the flute replacing the normal saxophone, this rendition was slower and softer than the original version. Subsequently, the crowd was thoroughly subdued by the end of the song.

That was, of course, until Tou-san brought out the karaoke machine. For the rest of dinnertime, everybody tool turns at the microphone for various degrees of embarrassment ("Midori, stop the torture!", yelled Eiji) and enjoyment (all the wide eyed glances at Eiji singing wonderfully).

It was a fun dinner for all.

* * *

Normally, baths are supposed to be relaxing, especially one in a hot spring. However…

"EEEP! What are you doing?" Minako screamed.

"Ah, Minako-chan, we were just wondering how you have silky smooth hair," Yuri said, feeling her up

"And why are you using binders? Your breasts are nice and soft," added Lily.

"Noooo…." Minako groaned at her breasts being squeezed.

"Your skin's so soft," said Miki, touching her underclassman. "What's your secret?"

"Really? Let me see," Tammy said and did the same as Miki.

"HEY! That tickles!" Minako squeaked as she giggled, wiggled and squirmed at the ensuing tickle attack. A few torturous moments later, she dove into the pool, swam away from her senpais and emerged by a wall a few metres away. Kana, Rina and Toshiko laughed at her predicament the whole time.

"Thanks guys…, you're no help…" Minako fumed. She was actually not that angry with her senpais; she fully expected this happen. Nevertheless, it made her uncomfortable because it had been a very long time since she had been touched like that.

The memory of that time, her very first time in fact, emerged in her mind unbidden. As she recalled, it was Shinjiro's first time as well. He had been very fierce about the love making, like he was making up for lost time or was desperately living in that moment like it was his last.

It very much hurt her how true the latter was a few days later, when he was shot and nearly killed by Takaya. Seeing him bleeding to near-death in the back alleys of Port Island Station completely horrified her. She never cried as much as on that day, hoping that beyond hope that he would survive. She was glad that he did, but the fact that he lapsed into a coma and was not permitted any visitors really hurt. Despite efforts by her to hide it and by her brother and their friends to console her from it, she spent many nights crying alone in her bedroom, burdened by such unbearable pain.

That pain magnified when Christmas Eve that year slowly approached. Minako felt incredibly miserable during that time and everyone noticed. It was only Junpei who called her out on it and gave her the proverbial 'kick in the butt' to go see Shinjiro. Elated at the thought, she ran to his hospital room and stayed with him all night despite him not being allowed visitors. The next morning, a female nurse woke her up, nearly scolding her for doing what she did. Instead, she pointed at his face, saying that he was not smiling before the auburn haired girl visited. She felt a great relief in knowing that he was slowly but surely waking from his coma.

A question stirred the heiress out of her reverie. `Hey Mina-chan, what type of boy do you like?" Yuri asked.

"Or girl for that matter," added Lily, who was getting very close to Yuri.

While the rest stopped chatting, Minako just stared at the two and asked, "What made you ask that question just now?"

"Well, Miki has Kyo…" said Yuri.

Miki just nodded.

"… Toshiko and Miroku are a couple…"

"Mmm hmm" said Toshiko.

"… Midori and Eiji are an item…"

"WE ARE NOT!" fumed Midori

"… Rina's with Hideo…"

"Say what!" Rina yelled.

"… and Tammy probably has Taka around her finger…"

"W…wh…what!" said Tammy and Kana simultaneously.

"… and I have Lily…"

"Yup yup," her partner agreed.

"… but a cute looking, highly skilled and trained girl like is not in relationship? So what's up with that? I mean, all we've seen the last couple of weeks is you turning down everyone flat."

"To be fair," Rina interrupted, "it's been like this the past couple years for her and the last couple of centuries for her whole family. That's why it's called the Setamagi Challenge."

"The what?" Midori asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

_She had to bring that up_, Minako mentally sighed as her best friend explained this challenge. Amaterasu groaned and Izanagi face palmed when they both heard that term again.

Amaterasu, being Yukiko's persona, remembered vividly how her former mistress dealt with this challenge, which was to say, very obliviously. Yukiko was usually a bit of an airhead when it came to social interaction. Until meeting Souji, she never really understood how she portrayed herself when she sometimes turned guys down with an unintentionally cold demeanor. It was probably a good thing since a lot of those potential suitors were very shallow money grubbers.

On the other hand, Izanagi remembered how hard it was for his master to convince his and her parents that he was not one of those gold diggers. He knew he loved her for her and nothing would change that, except public perception would not allow that. That was in part why Souji wanted to inherit the Amagi name.

Unlike them, Minako knew of the challenge long before she even made it to middle school and never wanted any part of it. She turned down every potential suitor down flat. Based on the stories Rina told, all her friends found them funny, but she found every one of them irritating.

Once her laughter died down, Yuri was about to speak again. "Seriously, you turned down everyone, Mina-chan?"

"Everyone," Toshiko added. "Even Miroku, if I recall correctly."

"Nice looking guys, smart guys, everyone got turned down," Rina said. "You should have seen their hearts shattering."

"Why'd you turn them down? At least a date would have been nice," said Lily.

"They just weren't my type," Minako flatly said before staring at the near half-moon.

"So what is you type?" asked Yuri.

No response.

Kana sighed. "I knew this would happen."

"What do you mean?" Miki asked.

"Mina-chan never likes being asked about relationships," Tammy explained.

"She'd just clam up when asked," Kana added before yawning. She and Tammy then stood up from their spots.

"Hey, where'll you two going?" Rina asked.

"Tired. Wanna sleep," Tammy said groggily.

"Okay then. Have a good night," said Yuri, hugging them both.

"Good night, " Kana replied. She then walked up to her older sister and hugged her as well. "Good night, onee-chan."

Still, no response.

Both the younger sisters sighed before leaving the hot springs.

While the other girls continued on chatting (and in the case of Yuri and Lily, groping each other), Minako kept staring at the moon deep in thought. _The type of person I like… What made me fall in love with Shinjiro?_ It had honestly never occurred as what type of person she liked; she just fallen in love with Shinjiro and that was that. Now her thoughts lured her in that direction.

Shinjiro had the three qualities most women loved: tall, dark and handsome. However, there was another thing about him that really attracted Minako to him: mystery. She knew that his gruffness and aloofness was hiding something, so she kept prodding poking, teasing and annoying him until the layers were peeled off. As it turned out, he was a nice and sensitive person underneath, one who played with dogs, loved to cook, cared for the well-being of his friends and showed incredible remorse for the sins in his past.

Minako scrunched her face in pain, turned around to lay her head on the bamboo floor and hoped to holy high hell that nobody noticed. A new realization hit with like one of those Hulk Hogan-like shadows' lariats; these were the exact same reasons she latched onto Ryoji!

She was still hurting from Shinjiro being shot when Ryoji appeared. He too was tall, dark, handsome and very mysterious. Despite his initial flirtatious and perverted nature, his mysterious aura held a very gentle and sensitive being that belayed his role as the harbinger of the Fall, a role he greatly regretted. This aura really attracted her to him and eased her pain. She immediately regretted that thought and sobbed silently. She hated how she used Ryoji as a crutch, a relationship rebound.

"It's alright, Hamuko-chan," Ryoji said, hugging her.

"No, it's not," she cried. "I shouldn't have treated you so poorly!"

"You lost so much of your life because of me. I'd say that's a fair trade."

"You were forced into that position!"

"And so were you, but I don't regret it. You and your brother helped me grow into the being I am now, one who cares for everyone good and bad instead of being some mindless monster. I learned to love because of you."

"But…"

"Don't worry, I know. Hamuko-chan, even then I knew you were hurting and just needed something or someone to keep you busy, and I never minded one bit. Please, let go of your pain. You can't keep harbouring it forever."

Minako just stared with teary eyes at the bamboo floor. She wanted to let go, she really did considering everything she endured. The fact that she used a lot of people still nagged at her all this time, making her not forgive herself.

A quiet yip drew her out of her reverie. She looked peripherally and noticed Brea in one of the bushes. _When did she get here?_, she thought, wiping her eyes and arching an eyebrow. Then she saw the little fox pointing at the opposite side of the spring and tapped her right paw. Looking in that direction, the heiress took note of Miki, specifically of her right hand and then inwardly sighed. She saw an arm peeking out from under the bushes, holding onto Miki's right hand.

Hearing a quiet dragging sound to her right, she noticed Brea quietly dragging a bucket towards her. Discreetly, she stretched out her arms and grabbed a hold of it.

"Miki-senpai," she called.

"Yes, Setamagi-chan?"

"DUCK!" she yelled while throwing the bucket at the bushes.

Miki, surprised look in her face and all, immediately ducked into the spring water and dodged the incoming projectile. The person in the bushes, however, took it right in the head because when Miki dodged, she pulled out her boyfriend Kyo out of the bushes.

"ITAI!" he yelled as he rubbed the emerging bump on his head.

More rustling in the bushes led to Minako raining more buckets down in that direction. That brought a downpour of more teenage males splashing into the hot springs.

"Eiji!" "Miroku!" "Hideo!"

Minako sighed and shook her head. She knew that the boys, except Taka apparently, would pull a stunt like this. "Boys…"

"Wait, Setamagi-chan!" Miki shouted whist tending to her boyfriend's sore head. "don't blame them; it was my idea."

"What!" shouted everybody, but a very pre-occupied Yuri and Lily.

"Um… well, what do you expect? Ever since this idea came up, Kyo and I had been… um… extremely eager to spend some quality time together in the springs," Miki explained, her cheeks looking as pink as her strawberry blonde hair.

"And you were really disappointed to find out the springs were segregated, right?" Minako asked. Kyo nodded, also blushing.

The heiress could not quite believe it; Mitsuru and her brother's descendants wanted to break the rules! She should not be too surprised at this contrast considering how many centuries have passed. As she recalled though, Miki and Kyo were model students as well (aside from Kyo's aloofness anyway). Minako probably would have let everything let slide everything that had happened so far, IF it were not for the next incident to make her facepalm.

Suddenly, there were loud noises emanating from Yuri and Lily. Everybody just stared as they both became louder and faster from their approaching dual climaxes. With two incredibly loud yells, Yuri and Lily finished he deed, huffing and panting.

That probably would have been the end of that, had they not instantly sobered up at the red face of their underclassman and host. That red face was not a blush though; it was of pure anger.

Minako was irate from all the rule breaking that just happened, especially since she had told them that these are public spaces and any indecencies would be punished. She could feel the steam coming out of her ears from that anger.

As she heard a little yip underneath her, she looked down to see Brea dragging buckets to her. Grinning evilly and looking up to see her panicked friends, Minako started throwing those buckets at them.

A few minutes later, amidst the unconscious bodies and slightly chillier than usual spring air, Minako could only sigh and wonder why teenagers and hot springs never mix.

* * *

The next day, Minako stood with a bokken in front of her friends, whom were bruised, battered and ashamed, and clad in inn yukatas. Her punishment for them was to clean the entire inn by hand. She whacked the bokken on the floor and they scurried to get started.

She espied Taka, Kana and Tammy's looks of surprise. She grinned inwardly as they were wondering what they did to piss her off this much. She planned to reassure them later. Once the inn was spotless and if she got parental approval, she would allow them all in the same springs together. She just wanted to maintain the stern look for a while and watch her friends squirm at their misdeeds.

Minako just grinned evilly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tou-san and Kaa-san watched from afar, curious about their eldest daughter's actions.

"How's she really doing?" asked Kaa-san.

"Not well," said Amaterasu. "She's harbouring a lot more pain than we realized."

"And hiding more than she lets on and more than she's willing to admit," added Izanagi. "Her past still haunts her."

Tou-san sighed. "I figured as much. That fight was just the tip of the iceberg."

"It's coming to a boiling point, where she may have to …," Kaa-san trailed off, unable to finish that thought .

Amaterasu did that for her. "Yes, that's true…"

"But she will never be alone when that happens, we promise you this," vowed Izanagi.

"Thank you," said Tou-san.

* * *

_References:_

_For the Japanese dances, I did watch a few YouTube videos to get an idea of what they might consist of. _

_Eiji singing beautifully is actually a very minor reference to __**SharkOfJade**__'s __**Junpei's Karaoke Night**__. The similarity being that both Junpei and Kenji's descendent are goofballs whom no one would expect to sing really well, much to the surprise of their friends._

_Minako spending Christmas Eve with Shinjiro at the hospital is a direct reference to one of my favourite stories, __**Think of Me Always **__by __**Year of the Dog**__. It is a very well written story about that couple that I feel could have possibly been put in the game. In fact, I was loved it so much that I added it to P3 Fanfic Recommendations page on TVtropes._

_Afterthoughts:_

_Remember I said there will be one or two Star Trek related chapters? The next one will take place in one of their locales, while introducing a few more characters._

_See you next chapter!_


	14. Chpt14: Hard Knocks at Starfleet Academy

_For Persona related info: __** wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: __** /wiki/Portal:Main**_

_For a possible year 2378 calendar: __** /calendar/?year=2378&country=26**_

_Hey everyone, how's it going?_

_Yeah, I know, it's been way too long since I've updated. I honestly lost interest and inspiration for this story as other things took up my time. Now I'm back to writing and hopefully, I'll get back to my monthly update schedule._

_Anyway, on to Hard Knocks at Starfleet Academy._

* * *

Friday, May 26, 2378

"Ah, am I ever glad that exams are over!" Eiji said, stretching his arms.

"Yeah so you can stop failing them as usual," Midori sniped.

"Hey! I don't fail all my exams!"

Minako could only giggle as her two friends argued per usual. She had to agree with the brunet male though; the mid-terms were a bit hard and she was glad they were over. Not that she had much to worry about since she studied very well.

"Anyway," Eiji said, "are you excited for next week?"

"Huh? What's happening next week?" the heiress asked.

"Earth to Minako, did you study so much that you forgot that we have that big class trip next week?" Midori said.

"Oh, THAT trip…," she replied in a dull tone.

"What do you mean 'THAT trip'? It's the most exciting trip of the year!" Eiji exclaimed.

The trip in question was for all the first students and the student council to visit Starfleet Academy. It gave them the chance to look around and to learn what they needed to know to enroll in Starfleet. Minako was not particularly enthusiastic about it however. She already knew what she wanted to do for her career and this trip felt unnecessary to her. She also had her fill of space from her time as the Great Seal. Unfortunately, she did not have much of a choice in the matter and, except for the last part, said as much to her friends.

"Oh, c'mon! Anytime away from school is good enough reason to be glad for a trip, even if it is to another school," Eiji said.

"I'd have to agree with him on that," Midori said. "Loosen up a bit. It could be fun."

Minako could only shrug.

* * *

Friday, June 2, 2378

_Misery loved company apparently_, Minako thought. She was not the only one who was not happy about this trip. As vice-president of the student council, Kyo also had to attend against his will. Considering what happened to his parents, it was understandable how he felt. It would probably have been unbearable for him to be there if it were not for Miki.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, she turned her attention towards the Starfleet liaison.

"Hello, I'm Commander Martin Madden and welcome to Starfleet Academy. I apologize for any inconveniences as it has obviously been a very busy time as of late with the sudden return of the starship Voyager."

Voyager, as Minako recalled, was a Federation starship that disappeared seven years ago while investigating a faction of Starfleet dissidents called the Maquis. In reality, they were forcibly transported 70,000 light years away in the Delta Quadrant. When they were finally able to contact Earth two years later, considerable resources were allocated to aid their return home. That aid was stymied by the war with the Dominion, but then was increased once the war was over. Then just earlier in the week, Voyager suddenly returned, ending their long and arduous journey.

"Anyway," Cmdr. Madden continued, "please enjoy the tour."

As the whole crowd dispersed, Minako and her friends remained.

"Can't say I'm too surprised about the hustle and bustle," Miki said, "what with Voyager's sudden reappearance and all."

"Yeah, I hope we can tour Voyager or at least meet the crew," Eiji said.

"I highly doubt that," Kyo said. "The ship probably needs downtime for inspections, while the crew gets debriefed. Those are gonna take a very long time to finish."

"Still, wishful thinking."

"Anyway, what's on the agenda right now?" asked Midori.

"Well, since Voyager's return threw everybody off schedule, we have roughly 45 minutes to kill before the first session," answered Miki.

"So let's look around for a bit until then," said Eiji.

"Agreed," added Midori.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," said Minako. _Stupid excitable Personas_, she thought as they laughed at her. "I'm just gonna stay here in the garden."

"Okay, Mina-chan. See ya later."

After they left, Minako took a seat at a nearby park bench underneath a tree. She did not want to walk around yet not just because of the lack of sleep, but also because of something she saw in the garden almost as soon as she got there. She was staring at it now as she sat on the bench; it was a bed of chrysanthemums.

Smiling a little, a happy memory of Shinjiro came to mind. After they started dating, he surprised her with a bouquet full of those flowers. She never expected the normally gruff and aloof young man to produce such an overt romantic gesture and thus was thoroughly surprised. She had hoped to cook him a nice dinner as her gift, but that fateful day happened…

"Penny for your thoughts, young miss?" said a gruff, but kind sounding voice.

"Huh?" Minako looked up to see an elderly Caucasian man wearing a white sweatshirt and brown overalls holding a few chrysanthemums in his hand.

"You were staring at these flowers. They're special to you, aren't they?"

"Uh… yeah…" Minako stuttered, blushing.

"Here, take a few," the man responded, handing them to her.

"Um… thank you, mister…?"

"The name's Boothby, master gardener and groundskeeper of Starfleet Academy," he answered, holding out a hand.

"Setamagi Minako… I mean, Minako Setamagi," the heiress said, accepting the handshake. "Please, have a seat."

"Don't mind if I do," he said as he sat down. "Setamagi…. Ah, you're that young martial arts champion girl that everybody keeps talking about."

"What? Everybody?" she said, exasperated.

"Well, maybe not everybody, but I hear your name a lot from a few people," he chuckled. "Hehe, I seem to always attract the famous ones."

"Huh?"

"A lot of cadets come to me for advice when their instructors can't. One of those was a young Jean-Luc Picard."

"Captain of the Enterprise?"

"The same. Brash, cocky, arrogant young man as I recall. And now he's the captain of Starfleet's flagship."

"Really…"

"Another one, Kathryn Janeway."

Minako's eyes nearly bugged out. "From Voyager?"

"Yep. I brought her fresh roses every day when she was at Starfleet. Now I hear she's gonna be promoted to rear-admiral."

"Interesting…"

The old man laughed. "I tell you two stories of famous captains and all you say is 'interesting'?" Anyway, I bet you'll have a great career in Starfleet."

Minako looked down after he said that. "Actually, I'm not planning to join Starfleet. I'm gonna take over my family's inn and hot springs."

"Ah. Well, it doesn't matter. I still expect a great many things from you, young lady."

She looked at him wide-eyed. "Um, you're not disappointed I'm not joining?"

"Why should I be? If your heart is already set on a goal, a good and honourable one, who am I to argue? Well, I'll be seeing you, young lady." Boothby then stood up, bowed and walked away.

Minako could only stare as the old man left, pondering his kind words.

* * *

"Classroom after classroom after classroom… isn't there more to this trip?" Eiji whined. "Like touring San Francisco or something?"

"Your fault for thinking it was gonna be more than a social studies excursion," Minako chided instead of Midori for a change. "Why do you think I didn't care for this trip?"

"I thought it was just because you're so dead set at taking over your inn that this trip would be boring to you," Midori said. "I guess we got too excited…"

Miki laughed. "Believe it or not, I was the same way, so energetic about the trip and then downtrodden at what it really was."

"I remember how mad you were when you got back home," Kyo said dryly.

"At any rate," she said, ignoring the jibe, "it's still a good learning experience."

It was currently lunchtime for all the schools involved in the excursion. The five of them had a table for themselves in the academy's cafeteria. Looking around, Minako saw quite a few different aliens such as Vulcans and Bolians. One particular youngish female Vulcan seemed to keep an eye at the heiress, who found it a little unnerving but ignored it for the most part. As she returned to the conversation at hand, a man's voice spoke up.

"Sorry to interrupt. May we speak with Setamagi-san, please?" he said.

_That voice!_, Minako thought. She immediately turned her head and her jaw dropped at the sight of a couple of Starfleet officers grinning at her. With great zeal, she got up and gave them both a huge hug. "Shiro-kun, Auntie, what are you doing here? I thought you were on another mission!"

"Came to see you, of course!" her aunt said. "You think we weren't going to come back home when you visit Starfleet Academy?"

"Um…" Miki uttered.

"Oh excuse us," said the woman. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Mana Dojima and this is Lieutenant Shiro Tatsumi."

"Auntie?" Midori said.

"Tatsumi as in…" Eiji said

"Hideo's older brother," answered Shiro.

"And we're distant relatives," replied Dojima.

"Mina-chan, you never told us you had family in Starfleet!" complained Midori.

"I never thought it needed mentioning. It wasn't like I was expecting them to be here," replied Minako.

"Anyway, if you don't mind, we like to talk to my niece in private," said Dojima.

"I'll be right back, guys," the heiress said to her friends, whom responded with nods.

She, Shiro and Dojima walked out of the cafeteria. Once they had left, she turned around and hugged the heck out of the both of them.

"Miss us that much, huh?" Shiro joked.

"Of course!" Minako said with a little pout.

"So how've you been?" Dojima asked.

"I've been good, Auntie."

"Really… that's not what Hideo tells me," said Shiro.

Minako looked down sheepishly. "He told you about that?"

"He and your parents," said Dojima. "When we told them that we'd be coming home for a while, they told us the whole story."

"So what really happened?" Shiro asked.

"It's whatever they said. I got angry with a guy for insulting me and my friends. They in turn broke the rules at the inn and got punished for it," Minako said succinctly.

"There's nothing more to it than that besides a temper tantrum?"

Minako winced. "Not really."

"You're not very convincing, you know that?" Dojima stated.

Minako did not respond, believing they would not understand her actual issues. Instead, she decided to deflect by asking them a question. "So what really brings you back home?"

If he noticed the deflection, Shiro did not show it. "Debriefing for a new mission. Top secret. Not for civilian ears."

"Of course…" said the heiress, rolling her eyes.

"The other thing being, you get any voices in your head?"

"Huh?"

"Oh don't play coy. We mean…" Dojima was about to say until…

"WHAT IS THE USE OF THIS POINTLESS VENTURE!?" a male guttural voice shouted.

"To learn about other cultures…" answered a softer male voice.

The three turned around to see a couple of young Klingon men walk passed them. The taller of the two, at 178cm, was the one making the commotion.

"What can I learn from puny humans?!" shouted the taller one.

"You'd be surprised…," said the other.

Minako exchanged puzzled glances with Shiro and Dojima, wondering what that was all about. A grunt and a sigh from elsewhere would answer their question.

"I had a feeling it had to be him causing the noise," a deep male voice said from behind.

The three turned around to see Ms. Ite and another, yet older Klingon. Unlike the other two who wore Klingon armour, this one wore a Starfleet uniform, the only one ever to do so.

"Lt. Cmdr. Worf," said Dojima. "I heard you would be here. How are things going in the Klingon Empire?"

"Lt. Cmdr. Dojima, Lt. Tatsumi," he said with a nod, before continuing. "They've been very good so far. Chancellor Martok is still easing into his role, but he's adapted to the politics involved."

"Just as well. He won't let the power go to his head," said Shiro.

"Agreed," said Worf. Turning his attention to Minako, he asked, "Is this your niece you keep speaking of, Dojima?"

As Minako blushed a little, her aunt answered, "Yes it is. Cmdr. Worf, meet Minako Setamagi, heiress to the Amagi Inn and martial arts champion. Minako, this is Lt. Cmdr. Worf, former tactical officer to Captains Jean-Luc Picard and Benjamin Sisko, and current Starfleet ambassador to the Klingon Empire."

"Auntie, I wish you didn't embellish so much," whined Minako, still blushing.

"Oh, c'mon. That's what good aunties do."

Worf just grinned, making Shiro speak up. "Minako, it's a rarity for Cmdr. Worf to grin so make the most of it."

"He's right," added Ms. Ite.

"Ite-sensei, how do you know Cmdr. Worf?" asked Minako, slightly puzzled.

Worf grunted a little. "Let's just say she's had a few run-ins with my son when he was living on Earth."

"Ah…"

"So Cmdr.," said Dojima, "what brings you here all the way from the Klingon Empire? Needing a vacation?"

"You could say that. I wasn't planning to come back till Cmdr. Riker and Councillor Troi's wedding in a month, but Alexander insisted on visiting my adoptive parents." A loud guttural growl made Worf wince. "Unfortunately, we've also been tasked with taking care of Chancellor Marok's nephew."

"I take it he would be the one making the noise?" asked Shiro, looking towards the cafeteria.

"Yes, that would be D'ghor," Worf groaned. "Martok wants to know why his nephew has … a disagreement regarding humans and any questions he has ask have been met with silence. He thought that a trip to Earth would enlighten him a bit." More growls were heard. "Obviously, that hasn't been the case."

"And based on the slurs, I'd say it's more than just a disagreement," Shiro said wryly.

Minako was about to say something until she heard Eiji's voice and looked back into the cafeteria. Once she noticed that D'ghor was picking on him and that her friend's temper making him argue back, she knew this was going to get ugly. She turned back to Lt. Cmdr Worf and said, "Cmdr. Worf, correct me if I'm wrong, but when challenging a Klingon, one should not use a backfist."

"Not unless you want to fight to the death. Why did you want to know…?!" Worf began to say before Minako started walking towards the cafeteria.

"Minako-chan, what are you doing?" Dojima shouted, following her.

"Planning to shut him up," she replied, walking towards her target.

She had just witnessed the normally reserved Kyo stand up for his underclassmen and was pushed to the ground for his troubles by D'ghor. Eiji jumped the Klingon in retaliation, but was also thrown to the ground. Miki and Midori stayed out of the way, while Alexander tried to subdue his brethren to no avail as he was also easily thrown to the ground.

D'ghor snarled as two Starfleet security officers armed with phasers entered the picture. "Is this all you puny humans can do? Weaklings so used to phasers that you can't fight." He felt a light tap on his shoulder, turned around and saw the young auburn haired girl standing in front of him. "And what are you going to do little girl? Talk me down?"

"No, this!" Minako shouted before uppercutting the Klingon. The blow was hard enough to stagger him into and over the table that her friends were sitting, making them scatter. She winced and wiggled at the ensuing pain from hitting denser Klingon bones barehanded.

"You really think humans are that weak? I don't see how honourable it is for a Klingon to pick on a supposedly weaker being, you _petaQ_!" she shouted, glaring at the downed Klingon.

Everybody on hand was shocked at what she just did, even moreso in uttering a harsh Klingon curse word; however, they were even more surprised when D'ghor just roared with laughter. "You really think you can take me on, little girl?"

Worf answered for her. "I would not discount her just yet. She is a martial arts champion."

D'ghor laughed more as he stood up. "Really, her? This should be interesting. Come, girl, let's fight!"

Minako glared intensely at him before shouting, "Where's the closest holodeck?"

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Miki and Amaterasu asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Minako quickly said as practically everyone from the cafeteria headed to the closest holodeck.

"But he's so much stronger and bigger than you," said Midori and Eurydice.

"I've beaten opponents stronger and bigger than me before."

"Not a Klingon though," added Eiji and Ryoji.

"Doesn't matter if he's human, Klingon, Vulcan or whatever."

"This is probably the one time you need our help and we can't," said Izanagi.

_Hasn't stopped me before_, she thought. It was true that since her rebirth, she had not been able to utilize her Personae in any way, whether it be evoking them into the real world or equip them for their strength. _And_ she never wanted nor needed to use their power as she felt it was unfair to use such hidden abilities during competitions. Likewise, she mandated to her Personae to keep silent during matches.

"You really think he won't listen to reason?" asked Kyo.

"Not at all," Minako said. "He strikes me as a stubborn warrior wannabe who'll only listen after getting some sense beaten into him.

"Martok said the same thing, actually," said Worf.

"Besides, actions speak louder than words. If he thinks humans only talk and use phasers, then I'm gonna give him one heck of a rude awakening."

By then, everyone reached the holodeck. Minako, D'ghor and Worf entered, leaving everybody else to watch via the viewscreens outside.

Worf then shouted a few commands. "Computer, load standard Klingon cave training area." The computer acknowledged and changed the black walls and yellow grid for a cave-like setting with plenty of candles strewn about.

D'ghor shouted the next command. "Computer, load standard Klingon bat'leth, 116 cm in length." The computer then produced into his hands an intricate weapon made of two crescent blades of differing lengths connected together in three spots, creating three handholds for the user to wield it.

Minako shouted the next set of commands. "Computer, first access database in country Japan, town Inaba, Setamagi naginata 01." The computer did as told and into her hands materialized a naginata with a 30 cm curved blade attached to a 120 cm long wooden shaft.

"Secondly," she continued, "load a standard katana, 91 cm in length, appear in Lt. Cmdr. Worf hand." Much to his shock, Worf found said Japanese sword appear before him.

"Third," Minako started, but D'ghor interrupted her.

"Computer, load a standard Klingon battle sword into the other hand of Worf," he commanded. Both he and Worf had understood what she had in mind.

"Anything else?" D'ghor snorted.

Worf answered that question. "Computer, holodeck safeties off." It acknowledged while the two combatants traded steely-eyed stares. "Weapons ready, and BEGIN!"

The two fighters started by circling each other and gauging each other's defences. Despite the mutual dislike, both were hesitant to swing the first blow. Eventually, they both coincidentally decided to throw caution to the wind and attack with two-handed overhead slashes.

Minako followed up by pivoting the blade end to swing the blunt end at D'ghor. In turn, he switched handholds before blocking and pushing the attack away with the middle of his weapon. He then had to raise the left side to block another slash with her blade end before pushing her away harder and making her spin counter clockwise into another battle stance.

She changed stances with the blade end of her weapon forward, left hand on the middle of the shaft and right hand closer to the blunt end. He twirled his weapon, switching hands and readying to strike.

Instead of waiting, she started poking at him. He easily swatted them away, but looked quite frustrated at how fast she was able to do that. Eventually he was swatted her away clockwise and followed with an overhead diagonal slash. She used the momentum of the spin to block it, but he followed up with a shoulder smash and a kick that made her roll on the floor. He intended to slash her when she was down, but she jabbed in the stomach with the naginata's butt end.

Minako then stood up with an uppercut slash that D'ghor deftly dodged. He answered with a horizontal slash she ducked. They then started twirling their weapons at each other, the ends clashing and clanging. After a few moments, they both realized that they were getting nowhere and promptly broke off to catch their breaths.

The heiress stretched her arms and shoulders trying to relieve any kinks she felt. She was surprised at how calm her opponent was, in spite of the immense anger he showed earlier. She was about to voice that thought, but he beat her to it.

"You fight well, little girl. I may have underestimated you," said D'ghor, showing some begrudging respect.

"You also fight very well, Mr. Klingon," Minako said. "I wasn't expecting you to be so calm after your outburst earlier.

The next few exchanges left everybody on edge. The battle had been fiercer than before as each combatant sported a few visible cuts and bruises. Minako's friends looked each other with the same worried expressions on their face; on the other hand, Ms. Ite kept her face unnaturally even.

Although she did not show it, Minako was just as worried as her friends were. As she blocked and countered one of D'ghor's slashes, she realized his strength was much greater than anybody else she had faced. Each blow she blocked took a lot out of her, making her wonder for the first time in a long time if she was way in over her head.

The next exchange brought about the biggest break in the action. Literally! D'ghor's latest combo forced her to block another overhead slash with the shaft of her naginata and it split in half! The heiress, surprise very evident on her face, was barely able to compose herself enough to roll backward to dodge the next slash and recover into a ready position.

D'ghor grinned, thinking that the little girl will break like her bothersome weapon. He held his laughter as he saw her hold up both pieces of said weapon, blade end in her right hand and blunt end in her left. He lazily threw a counter-clockwise swing at her, which surprisingly blocked with her blade end. Simultaneously, he growled as he first felt a dull pain from the blunt end hitting right knee and then secondly a kick to his left knee that staggered him back. Undaunted but angry, he attacked overhead, but she blocked with the blunt end and cut his left arm with the blade end. The next exchanges made him back off completely as he earned a couple of more bruises and cuts without hitting her once. He had a befuddled yet very angry look on his face, with a hint of wonder as to how to break her defences.

In reality, Minako was very unsure of her current situation, but did not show it. She had not practised dual wielding either eskrima sticks or short swords in a very long time (not after a very embarrassing incident where one of those sticks slipped out of her hands and nearly hit her sensei). However, she intended on capitalizing on his bewildered state. That she did as her two pronged attack kept him at bay. While the bruises and frustration mounted on D'ghor face, her increased confidence shone on hers.

Suddenly, after a stab attempt with the blunt end, D'ghor somehow snagged it with the middle hold and handhold of this bat'leth. He tried to disarmed it from her, she countered by snagging the blade end in the same hole. The ensuing struggle for control became and extremely dangerous for Minako as she had to worry about both pointy ends of the signature Klingon weapon AND the broken ends of her naginata; D'ghor only had to deal with the handhold of his weapon. Therefore, she quickly kneed him in the gut, which made him stagger back, and then threw both weapons down a cave corridor. He was about to run and get back his weapon, but he had to block a roundhouse kick from her.

The two stood arms raised, ready to attack. He growled at her, which she returned with a death glare. Just as they were about to go at it again, a guttural noise caught their attention. They turned to see Worf holding up their other swords.

As they unsheathed those swords, Minako asked a nagging question, "Why do you hate humans so much?"

D'ghor snarled, "Like I'd ever tell you, hoo-MON!"

"I don't want to keep to fighting if this is some stupid misunderstanding."

"A stupid misunderstanding? You'll never understand a Klingon!" he growled, while slashing downward at her. She barely parried it and dodged the ensuing slashes. She then countered an overhead slash attempt with one across his body. He barely stepped backward to avoid, but his armour was sliced across.

As they clashed once more, Minako's friends watched with ever-increasing anxiety.

"C'mon, Mina-chan!" Eiji shouted. "Beat that bully!"

Midori was not as enthused. "Oh, I can't watch. EEK, look out!" she shouted as he classmate ducked as high horizontal slash. She never liked this idea, moreso once the holodeck safeties were turned off.

"This is going too far," Miki added. "We need to stop this fight." Kyo nodded as that as the two fighters traded slashes and parries.

"No, don't," Shiro said. "She can beat him."

"Agreed. I believe in her," Dojima added, as her niece kicked D'ghor in the gut.

"You've gotta be kidding me! That how's you treat family, letting her get seriously hurt!?" Midori exclaimed, as the young Klingon backhanded her classmate to the ground and chopped at head, only to miss it and instead chopping a little of her long hair.

"Ms. Ite, we're going to stop this, right?" pleaded Miki.

"Actually, no, we aren't," Ms. Ite said.

"WHAT?!" her completely shocked students shouted.

"Ms. Ite, you want him to be taught a little lesson in humility, don't you?" asked Alexander.

"Indeed, same lessons I taught you," the raven-haired teacher replied. "Minako wanted this fight and I'm not going to go against her wishes. More importantly, I know she can win.

"Besides," she added, turning towards her students, "I told Worf to lock the door at his command only." She slightly grinned as their jaws dropped.

However, Minako was not as confident. The next few clashes once again made her question how good an idea it was to challenge an angry Klingon. It was getting increasingly harder to keep blocking his powerful blows. She knew that eventually her defences would fail and knew that he knew as well.

Just as she thought that, D'ghor's next slash knocked her katana out of her hands and it became lodged into a rock wall. Again, she quickly rolled backwards and then to the side to avoid the following slashes.

"You've lost, little girl. Stand down," D'ghor growled, leaving his sword by his side.

"No, I haven't. I'm not bowing down in surrender yet," she chided, wishing she had much more confidence in her words.

"Very well, so be it!" he growled as he took an uppercut swing at her.

There was a saying in Klingon culture that a Klingon can tell if another had the intent to kill just by the look of their eyes. Minako had seen that look and easily sidestepped the attack. As she dodged another couple of slashes and hit with a couple of quick punches, she knew she would not last any long longer and thus quickly formulated a plan.

She glanced back and forth between her weapon and her opponent, looking but not feeling anxious to get it back. She ducked and dodged to avoid his attacks while awaiting the right time to strike.

A few minutes later, Minako felt it was the right time. Although she was tired from all the dodging, D'ghor looked much worse. If the huffing and puffing were any indication, he tuckered himself out impatiently trying to finish the match.

She was an arm's length from her lodged katana and three arms' length from her opponent. She feigned to grab her katana, hoping to bait him to attack her arm instead of her body. He fell for it hook, line, and sinker, as she dropped her arm, twisted her body on her left heel and hit with a hard kick to his stomach.

The look on his face and him keeling over told her that he was reeling hard. That was when she noticed that here was blood on her right sock, making her realize that the slash that cut through his armor had also cut him as well. Pressing the advantage she now had, she immediately followed up with a jumping knee to his jaw that knocked him down to the ground. She would have pressed even further had her knee not sting like crazy and had he not instinctively though woozily swing his blade as a preventative tactic.

Instead, she limped towards her katana to pull it out. She tugged at it with a grunt, but got nothing out of it. Then she noticed that half the blade was deeply lodged into the wall and frantically kept pulling at it.

By then, D'ghor was crouching on his knees, still shaking the cobwebs out of his head. Then he noticed Minako's struggle with her sword and staggered up to his feet and after her.

As she noticed him rising up, she calmly took a deep breath, realizing her frantic struggle was getting her nowhere. She turned towards her charging opponent, waiting until he was within striking distance before taking one hard pull at her lodged sword.

Her ensuing downward slash must have been very strong. As it clashed with his downward slash, his sword was batted away to his right side. When he recovered and tried to retaliate, she followed with an equally strong backhand uppercut slash that batted his blade up but not out of his hands. Finally, she finished her modified naginata combo with a jump spinning downward blow to his high horizontal block, hoping to knock him down for good.

However, the unthinkable happened; as her katana clashed diagonally with his sword, the former's blade shattered completely!

Minako had no time to think about the near-impossibility of this happening; the ensuing shrapnel exploded everywhere, showering both her and D'ghor and even making Worf duck for cover. The shards that hit hurt like hell, though she was thanking the heavens that they did not pierce through her and hit any vital organs.

She felt like her energy had completely, until she noticed her opponent was fairing much worse than she was. Due to the trajectory of the shattered blade, most of the shrapnel showered him, making him rub or shake them out of his now blinded face.

_It's now or never…,_ she thought, completely steeling her resolve.

She first kicked his sword out of his hands and down a corridor, before planting her foot in his sternum. He tried to fight back with a couple of wild punches, only to hit air as she easily dodged behind him. She followed up with a jumping elbow smash that staggered him forward, deftly stepped backwards to avoid a spinning backfist attempt and countered with a jumping high kick to the back of his head.

Then she followed up with a combo her brother Minato used to do a long time ago. She fired off a left jab and a straight right, ducked under a couple of punches before smacking D'ghor with a hard spin kick, and finished with a hard right cross to his jaw.

The last blow took him down to one knee, clutching as his already sore head with one hand. He did not have time to recover as he was accosted by her stepping off his raised knee and wrapping her legs around his head and arms, crossing them into a figure four position.

Minako tightened her legs as much as possibly, hoping this triangle choke will finally win her the match. However, the combination of her admittedly weak Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills and D'ghor's incredible strength made her very worried. Based on his heavy breathing and frantic struggle to get out via hammerfists to her head the hold was working smoothly.

Suddenly, she felt his hands on her back and realized a little too late what he was planning to do. She braced herself as he lifted her up her up and slammed her down hard on to the cave floor. The hard impact sent a super sharp pain up and down her spine and made her feel a little woozy. However, she was still able to maintain the choke as it ironically tightened because of the powerbomb slam.

Again, she felt his hands on her back, but she instinctively fired a couple of elbow smashes to his face. Then she wrapped one of her arms around his arm trapped in the choke with his hand underneath her armpit, turning the choke into a triangle choke/armbar combination. Now, anytime he tried to twist and turn to get out of the hold, he growled as pain shot down his trapped arm.

"Please yield!" Minako pleaded. "I don't want to… !" She got cut off as D'ghor tried to hit her face with his free arm, only to be blocked with her free arm.

The blow felt really weak, making her realize he's about to keel over. She fired off more elbows to speed things up; he in turn was very hard pressed to stop them in his increasingly weakened state.

Desperately, he tried to lift her up for a slam one more time, but she immediately countered by arching her back and extending her body, putting tons of pressure on his nearly overextended arm.

D'ghor yelled an ear-piercing growl out of extreme pain before limply falling on top of Minako. Worf quickly checked on his brethren to see if he was conscious before finally untangling the two fighters from each other and rolling him to the left of her. Completely exhausted and breathing very hard, she just laid on the ground.

Worf signalled for the holodeck doors to opens, allowing medical staff, Ms Ite, Alexander and Minako's friends and family to enter. Minako tried to get up only to collapse again in near-exhaustion. Luckily, they were able to catch her before she fell.

"Hey, you okay there?" Eiji asked as he and Kyo tried to keep her standing upright.

"Yeah, I will be…" Minako answered weakly.

"Take it easy, Setamagi-chan. We need to get you to a doctor immediately," said Miki.

"Ok… Hey Midori?"

"Yes, Minako-chan?"

"You were right. This trip was fun," Minako said with a smile before passing out.

Her friends and family just laughed as they carried her to the infirmary. Ms. Ite, on the other hand, was a little more reflective. The proverbial gears in her head spun, knowing what she has to do next.

* * *

Meanwhile…

"She fought him without any Persona?" Shiro asked.

"Yes, sir," Izanagi replied.

"Interesting. Didn't think she would be that strong," Cmdr. Dojima mused.

Amaterasu pouted. "Hey! Who do you think you're talking about?!"

"I'm kidding. Anyway, needless to say, keep an eye on her. Something's got me really worried as of late."

"Yes sir," both Personae said in unison.

* * *

_References:_

_Lots of Star Trek references this time. I'll just list them in order of appearance:_

_Starfleet Academy, Boothby, Voyager, Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Enterprise, Capt. Kathryn Janeway, Klingon, Lt. Cmdr. Worf, Alexander Rozhenko, petaQ, bat'leth_

_Please check the link at the top of the page for anything that I haven't explained._

_Afterthoughts:_

_I will once again admit that one of the reasons it took so long was the fight scene. I find they are easy to imagine, but very hard writing on paper. I will really need to work on that in future._

_Not much else I need to add. See you next chapter._


	15. Chapter 15: Friendly and Unfriendly Fire

_For Persona related info: ___

_**wiki/Megami_Tensei_Wiki**_

_For Star Trek related info: __** /wiki/Portal:Main**_

_For a possible year 2378 calendar: __** /calendar/?year=2378&country=26**_

_Hey everyone, how's it going?_

No excuses. I just had too many things going on and too much of a writer's block to overcome and thus this chapter took its sweet time.

_Anyway, on to Friendly and Unfriendly Fire._

* * *

Wednesday, June 7, 2378

Normally, three friends walking to school would not be out of place, even if one of them was a famous martial arts champion and heiress to a popular inn. However, it was what this person was wearing that made everyone eye her quite oddly.

"Why exactly are you wearing that?" Eiji asked, clearly tiring of all the stares.

"Yeah, no one wears those things anymore," added Midori. "And it's not like they make you smarter, if the old stereotype's to be believed."

Minako chuckled at that. "Just felt like wearing them for a day. You know, just to feel and be different. Besides, don't I look good with them on?"

"Um, well…" Eiji stuttered, earning a smack from Midori and a laugh from Minako.

The item in question was the pair of red framed glasses that Taka and Kana gave her a few months ago. After too much giggling from her fiery Persona whenever she tried them on, she prodded Amaterasu to tell her the truth. They were actually Yukiko's glasses, the same ones she used while fighting Shadows in the Midnight Channel. Minako had wondered why they kept them as a family heirloom, but kept forgetting to ask.

Just after they entered the school gates, there was a bright flash, forcing the heiress to stop suddenly, take off her glasses and rub her eyes.

"Mina-chan, what's wrong?" asked Midori.

"Bright flash just now," she replied, blinking her eyes rapidly to stop seeing spots. When she saw her friends exchange puzzled looks, she then asked, "You guys didn't see it?"

Eiji answered, "Nope, didn't see a thing. You sure it wasn't the sun and your glasses?"

"Maybe…" the heiress said. _Weird, never had that happened before…,_ she thought.

Just then, she noticed Ms. Manisa and Miki were chatting at the front door. As they approached, the principal spoke up, "Ah, Minako-chan, we were just talking about you."

Minako gulped. "Um, am I in more trouble?"

A few days ago, Ms. Manisa had called her to the office regarding the Starfleet Academy incident. The heiress had went with a hung head, figuring this will be the incident that will get her expelled from Gekkoukan for sure. After retelling what happened though, the principal had surprisingly reassured her, citing that Starfleet's report had verified the exact same thing. She only walked away with a light warning, not even get the proverbial second strike on her record. Now she was worried that her principal just changed her mind.

Miki answered instead, "Depends on what you mean by trouble. Please come with us to the principal's office."

"Uh, sure," Minako said.

"Um, we'll see you in class," Eiji said with a little worry in his voice before he and Midori did just that.

After being led to their destination, Minako asked, "So what's this about?"

"You'll see," Miki said with a faint grin.

To say that Minako was completely shocked when Ms. Manisa opened her office door was an understatement. There were two people already in there and one of them was the last person she would expect to be there and in a Gekkoukan High uniform.

"D'ghor!?" the heiress shouted.

"YOU!" the young Klingon also snarled.

"Well, I see you two are well acquainted," Ms. Manisa said, with a hint of amused sarcasm. "But just in case, D'ghor, this is Minako Setamagi; Minako, this is D'ghor."

Waving a hand towards the second person, she added, "As for her, this is T'Preea from the planet Vulcan."

"A pleasure," the Vulcan female said with a nod. Minako returned the nod, thinking she had seen her before.

"Both D'ghor and T'Preea will be transferring to Gekkoukan High and will be rooming together in an apartment close by as of today," said Ms. Manisa. "The reason I asked for you, Minako-chan, is because I would like you, Miki and Kyo to give them a tour of the school."

"Um, I can understand asking Miki-senpai and Kyo-senpai but why me?" asked the heiress.

"Aside from knowing one of them maybe a bit too personally" – Minako had to suppress an eye roll – "they both requested your assistance specifically. And in spite of my original verdict of you not joining other clubs, I've heard you've been helping the student council at their request and doing a great job as a result."

_Figures she'd know about that_, Minako mentally sighed. After Golden Week, Miki asked her to join the student council to aid in a project with which they needed more help. She could never say no to a Kirijo (especially at the risk of execution).

And she could never say no to a principal either. "Sure, I can help with their tour."

"Splendid. I'll make arrangements with your teachers," said the principal. Turning to the new students, she added, "I hope you enjoy the tour and your year at Gekkoukan High."

"Thank you," said T'Preea, who had to nudge D'ghor to bow, much to his dislike.

After they all exited from the office to the hallway, Minako turned to the two of them and asked, "I can take a guess why he's here, but what about you, T'Preea?"

"In part, it's the same reason as him. We are both curious how you are able to beat much bigger and stronger opponents than yourself, especially one such as D'ghor here," answered T'Preea.

"But…" Minako said, not quite convinced. She had met many Vulcans over the years because of the Amagi Inn and learned much about their culture. Two of their tenets were the suppression of emotions and embrace of logical thought. To her, the Vulcan female in front of her had spoken both completely void of emotions _and_ full of them.

T'Preea faintly smiled, realizing she had been caught. "Let's just say emotional adolescent beings are NOT the only ones with parental problems…" She turned away and walked towards the atrium, leaving Minako, Miki and even D'ghor a little stunned.

* * *

"And this hallway is where all our clubs meet," said Miki. "There's a home economics room for cooking, sewing and the like, a couple of science labs, a music room…"

After meeting up with Kyo, Minako and Miki began their tour and had shown D'ghor and T'Preea most of their school. Predictably, the Klingon male looked bored for most of it, while the Vulcan female became interested once they arrived at this hallway and noted a few clubs she would like to join.

"And now we are entering the Hamuko Arisato wing, so named after Kyo's ancestor," continued Miki.

Also predictably, both aliens stared bug-eyed between Minako and the portrait of her original self in the display, and commented on the "uncanny" resemblance.

"And now we are at the sports and gymnasium areas. We have a swimming pool, and oval track, tennis and volleyball courts, and…," Miki started saying until…

"So what do we have here?" interrupted Hayase as he and a few of his cronies exited the kendo room.

"… and a salle arena…" Miki finished, a little annoyed.

"What are you doing here, Hayase? You should be in class," warned Kyo.

"Just wondering if the little cheater was skipping class as well," Hayase said.

Minako could only roll her eyes at that. Despite the older Hayase brother's request to befriend him, the younger would have nothing to do with her, besides insulting and trying to beat her. She was about to retort, but he opened his big mouth again.

"And are these the new transfer students? You trying to show them how you cheat?" he snarled. Then he took a closer eye at D'ghor and added, "Oh wait, I take that back. You're that Klingon that lost to the cheater. I bet I can beat you as well.

"Like you stand a chance, hoo-MON!" D'ghor shouted.

"Hayase!" Minako yelled, "That is quite enough! D'ghor, T'Preea, if you'll follow me." She led them out to the track and field area and out of sight of Hayase. Before she left, she felt the need to leave a parting shot. "And for you information, if you thought you could beat me, then you **definitely** won't be able to beat him. You wouldn't even last a second with him. You're better off kissing his targ and begging for mercy instead!"

She did not even wait for his reply, though his hissy fit told her enough; she just stormed off to the track and field area to meet with the tour. Facing the two new students, she said, "Sorry for all that. We have a history…"

"Yes, we know," T'Preea said. "He thought you cheated when you beat his older brother and was taunting you to join the kendo club. You refused and your pet was hurt in the process. You two fought last April where you handily won. And he's refused attempts at friendship, choosing hostility instead."

The heiress eyed them wearily before D'ghor answered the unspoken question. "In war, one needs to know about your opponent. And no, we don't believe that you cheated. For now."

Minako could only nod at that.

* * *

"Well everyone, we can finally say that this project is complete. Give yourselves a pat on the back," said Miki. The rest of the council gave each other a round of applause instead.

Minako, Miki, Kyo and the student council had been working on their project till late at night to meet tomorrow's deadline.

One of the male council members came up to Minako and said, "Thanks for help, Setamagi-chan."

"I didn't really do that much, but you're welcome, Odagiri-kun," she meekly replied.

"Oh, don't be so modest. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, later."

As she finished packing up her things, Miki came up and said, "I couldn't help but notice that Odagiri had taken a shine to you."

She had to admit that he did remind her of his possible ancestor. "We're just schoolmates, nothing more. Unless…" Her voice trailed as she eyed her senpais warily. "You weren't…"

Kyo answered, "We did need your help, make no mistake about that. But we also noted Odagiri, well, crushing on you and remembered what happened at your home so…"

Minako did not bother to listen to the rest of his explanation; she just shook her head and left the student council room.

**xXxXxXx**

"You can't blame them, Hamu-chan," Ryoji said. "They're just worried about you."

"I know, but.." Minako was about to say.

"You just can't let Shinji go, can you?" Eurydice finished.

"No…"

"I commend you for giving up hope," Amaterasu said.

"But I'm being foolish, aren't I?"

"I wouldn't say tha…! Minako, eyes up!" Izanagi warned.

Never taking the words of Souji's Persona lightly, the heiress stood on guard and noticed five shadowly figures. However, based on the height of one of them and the fact that they were holding kendo sticks, she knew who it was. "What do you want, Hayase?"

"What, you mean I can't take a walk with my friends here?" he chided.

"You call hiding in the shadows with weapons awaiting 'going for a walk'? Puh-lease…"

"We could've just come from kendo practice…"

"EXCEPT that the kendo team doesn't meet on Wednesdays and surprise meetings are ALWAYS announced."

He was about to retort, but she cut off. "And really, you need four of your cronies to beat down a little 'cheater'girl?" – said cronies started to surround her – "Did my little insult earlier hurt too much? That's the truth for ya!"

If his face was any indication, Hayase's face looked like a clogged chimneystack ready to explode. "I don't care what happens, just kick her ass!"

One crony swung high with his kendo stick, but she cross-blocked it and followed with a kick to his gut. She instinctively ducked as another crony swung his kendo stick and whacked his partner instead. She countered with a punch to the gut and an elbow to the back of his head.

Cronies three and four did not fair much any better. Minako rolled and grabbed Two's kendo stick, poked Three hard in the stomach and smashed him in the head. She then parried Four's slashes before blocking one, jabbing his face with the pommel and tripping him up.

Suddenly, Amaterasu shouted, "Behind you!"

Unfortunately, the warning came too late. She felt a hard whack on her back that knocked face down on the ground. She turned to look behind her, just in time to see a kendo stick swung right in her face. Falling to her back now, she started screaming as her body was pummelled with what felt like a thousand kendo stick blows. She felt like each blow broke a bone in her body. Her head ached as all her Personae's frantic worries and helplessness quaked in her mind.

Battered, bruised, broken and barely breathing, Minako could only like there in her growing pool of blood. However, she hear Hayase and his cronies laughing at her. In spite of all the pain, she steeled her resolve to fire a parting shot.

"Why… are you… guys laughing? You're…adding to the… noise pollution…," she wheezed.

Hayase laughed ever more. "What, can't handle our revelling in victory?"

"Victory? … More like mockery of one… You may have beaten up my body… but you'll never win the war of the minds and morals…"

"Oh really? Why is that?"

"Because everyone… will know who… attacked me…"

"Yeah right. It could be just a random mugging."

"Nobody has been… mugged here, … much less on Earth… in centuries…"

"I could always say self defense," he said with a little less confidence.

"No one… would believe that… I would try to attack you… with your cronies around… without any help…"

Hayase was about to retort, but Minako cut him off again. "Moreover, … everyone knows that, … one, I beat you fair and square; and two, you and your friends tried to… ambush me in that fight…. They wouldn't believe a word that you would say."

Before she said anything, he sat down on top of her … and started to lightly choke her. The sitting down motion made her scream in pain until it was silenced by the choke. She struggled a little, but knew she did not have to the energy to stop him. Instead, she kept on chiding him, "And now… the evidence keeps mounting…. A bare hand on my neck… those kendo stick are traceable… regardless if they are replicated or handmade…"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

She stared him straight in the eve before damning him even more. "Any you know what?... For all your talk about honor… you don't know… anything about it…. You try to act like a samurai… but you're really just a bully and street thug…!"

Her eyes started to bulge out more as Hayase tightened the grip around her neck. She could see his cronies try to stop him, but he just shrugged them off. Still unable to fight back, her sight darkened as the end came near.

Suddenly, the choking stopped and her lungs hurriedly and painfully sucked in any oxygen they could. As she coughed, Minako looked up at Hayase, her eyes widening in fear of the evil look in his eyes.

"You know what, I have a better idea," he said, before putting his hands on her clothing and ripping them apart.

"No…!" she weakly screamed, as she struggled to get out of his grasp. However, she knew it was in vain; the injuries she received from the beatdown and the choking from zapped her of most of her strength. She only could struggle now to use up the rest of said energy and black out, hoping to not feel any pain from the impending rape.

She got her wish as her sight darkened very quickly, though she could still feel his hands groping her. But as she passed out, she thought she heard a guttural voice and a roar.

"I couldn't agree with her more!"

Then everything turned to shadows.

* * *

_Afterthoughts:_

_Ooo.. evil cliffhanger. Best I can do for now. See you next chapter._


End file.
